In dairy industry, quality of produced milk must be more important than quantity without a high somatic cells count (SCC) or pathogens causing mastitis of dairy cows and consumer diseases. Preserving the good health of dairy cows is a daily challenge for all involved in primary milk production. Despite the increasing level of technological support and veterinary measures, inflammation of the mammary gland–mastitis, is still one of the main health problems and reasons for economic losses faced by cow farmers. The mammary gland of high-yielding dairy cows requires making the right decisions and enforcing the proper measures aimed at minimizing external and internal factors that increase the risk of intramammary infection. Due to the polyfactorial nature of mastitis related to its reduction, the effectiveness of commonly used antimastitis methods tends to be limited and therefore it is necessary to find the areas of risk in udder health programs and monitoring systems. Only by implementing of complete udder health programs should be accompanied by research efforts to further development these complete udder health control. The present review analyses the current knowledge dealing with damping and prevention of mastitis include SCC control, proper nutrition, housing and management, milking and drying as practiced in dairy farming conditions. This information may help to improve the health of the mammary gland and the welfare of the dairy cows as well as the production of safe milk for consumers.

This study investigated 960 Slovak and Czech spotted cattle from four different conventional (non-organic) dairy herds located in Eastern Slovakia and Czechia during early lactation (14–100 days after calving). Dairy cows were examined clinically; milk from fore-stripping of each udder quarter was subjected to sensory examination and assessed by the California mastitis test (CMT), and laboratory analyses of bacterial pathogens in milk, including virulence factors, were conducted. Positive CMT scores (1–3) for one or more quarters were detected in 271 (28.2%) of the examined animals. Out of 230 infected milk samples, representing 24.0% of all dairy cows, staphylococci (59.1% of positive findings) were the most commonly isolated organisms, followed by E. coli (11.3%), streptococci Str. uberis (9.1%) and Str. agalactiae (3.4%), and enterococci (6.1%). From 136 isolates of S. aureus (38 isolates) and non-aureus staphylococci (NAS; 98 isolates), virulence factors and their resistance to 14 antimicrobials were detected using the disk diffusion method, with PCR detection of the methicillin resistance gene, mecA. An increased incidence of clinical and chronic forms of mastitis has been reported in mastitic cows in which staphylococci, especially S. aureus and NAS (S. chromogenes, S. warneri, and S. xylosus), have been detected and compared to other isolated udder pathogens. From those species, S. aureus and isolates of NAS mentioned above showed multiple virulence factors that are more likely to hydrolyze DNA, hemolysis, produce gelatinase and biofilm, and have multi-drug resistance as compared to other less virulent staphylococci. Generally, the isolated staphylococci showed 77.2% resistance to one or more antimicrobials, in particular to aminoglycosides, β-lactams, macrolides, or cephalosporins. Isolates that showed the ability to form a biofilm were more resistant to more than one antimicrobial than isolates without biofilm production. Multi-drug resistance to three or more antimicrobial classes was recorded in 16 isolates (11.7%), and the presence of the mecA gene was also confirmed in two isolates of S. aureus and two species of NAS.

The effect of combining probiotics (Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus fermentum) with flaxseed (a source of n-3 PUFAs) on the lipid metabolism and long-chain fatty acid profile of conventional piglets after weaning was studied. The levels of total lipids and high-density lipoproteins cholesterol decreased from Day 7 post-weaning, whereas levels of low-density lipoproteins cholesterol, total cholesterol and triglycerides did not change significantly in piglets with supplemented diet. The levels of alphalinolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) increased seven days post-weaning; however, the levels of dihomogamma-linolenic acid and arachidonic acid (AA) were lower and linoleic acid (LA) higher in synbioticsfed piglets compared with controls. This study demonstrates the efficacy of conversion of ALA to EPA and DHA, where delta-6-desaturase was predominantly used for n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid synthesis from ALA at the expense of n-6 PUFAs from LA, which caused rapid increase in EPA/AA ratio on Day 14 after weaning. Combination of probiotic cheese and flaxseed is a good dietary supplement for piglets before weaning, helping them to adapt to change in diet more easily by regulating changes in lipid metabolism and vitality, and reducing the likelihood of chronic diseases. ARTICLE HISTORY

Early identification of mastitis is a serious challenge for dairy farmers and veterinarians in ensuring the health of an animal and the hygienic quality of the produced milk. The purpose of this study was to detect the occurrence and aetiology of mastitis in a dairy herd of 15 milked cows localised in a farm in west Slovakia. During the complex investigation, 606 quarter milk samples were examined (6 quarters were discarded) and classified based on the clinical status, the presence of abnormal udder secretions, the result of the California mastitis test (CMT), the somatic cell count (SCC) and the bacteriological identification of the pathogens causing the intramammary infection (IMI). The study was augmented by the detection of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the milk and the measurements of the blood enzymatic activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) as potential biomarkers for the udder health screening. A positive CMT score was recorded in 19.5% (118) of the examined quarters and 12.5% (76) of the quarters were infected with bacterial pathogens causing latent mastitis (LM; 1.3%), subclinical mastitis (SM; 8.3%), and clinical mastitis (CM; 2.9%). The most commonly isolated bacteria from the infected quarters were coagulase-negative staphylococci (55.2%), Staphylococcus aureus (11.8%) and streptococci (10.5%). The concentration of MDA and SCC were significantly higher from both the SM and CM cases than in the milk samples from the healthy cows, while the blood activities of SOD and GPx were lower in the cows with CM compared to the healthy cows. The higher MDA concentrations in the SM and CM milk observed in this study showed the presence of an oxidative stress in the infected milk, accompanied by a decrease in the antioxidative enzymatic activity in the blood of the cows. Therefore, the measurement of the milk MDA concentration and the activity of the blood SOD and GPx may prove insightful for the better screening of the udder health in the early diagnosis of mastitis.

Mammary gland tissue inflammation (mastitis) is the most frequent disease in dairy cattle in the world, and negatively influences the milk quality having consequences for the dairy processing industry. The aim of the study was analyze designed preventive and control methods focused to reduction of mastitis in herd of Slovak pied cattle in the east of Slovakia during two years of experiment. From 180 cows at quarterly intervals in the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th month was performed a complex examination of health udder including an assessment clinical signs of mammary gland, abnormal udder secretions, Californian Mastitis Test (CMT) with subsequent collecting of milk samples for bacteriological examination. In the first year during the first two complex examinations, treatment of mastitis caused by coagulase positive staphylococci (S. aureus), coagulase negative staphylococci (S. haemolyticus, S. warneri, S. epidermidis) and Str. agalactiae, a reduction in prevalence from the original 41.3 % to 32.1 % was achieved. During the last two complex examinations in the first year the prevalence decreased to 25.2 % and then at the end to 21.1 %, respectively. The reduction of mastitis during the second year is characterized by a 22.1 %, 19.2 %, 12.2 % to 7.3 % mastitis, when the prevalence dropped by 5.5 %, respectively. Coagulase negative staphylococci and Str. agalactiae were the most numerous in each case during the second year and their occurrence subject to a proportional reduction. Proposed antimastitis methods and their implementation of continuous mastitis control system during two years, significantly reduced prevalence of mastitis by 34.0 % and influenced the occurrence of the most common pathogens of the mammary gland in monitored herd of dairy cows. Recorded reduction of mastitis in monitored dairy herd is an example of using available scientifically validated methods in a rationally compiled mastitis control program for the specific conditions of each dairy farm in the long period.