Current management practices and interventions prioritised as part of a nationwide mastitis control plan

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to report performance and management data taken from a sample of UK dairy farms that have participated in the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board Dairy Mastitis Control Plan (DMCP) and to identify important mastitis prevention practices that are not currently widely implemented. A total of 234 UK dairy herds were included in the study from which farm management and udder health data were collected. Herds were grouped according to their mastitis epidemiology and could be classed as (i) environmental dry period (EDP) (i.e. environmental pathogen with majority of infections being acquired during the dry period), (ii) environmental lactation (EL), (iii) contagious dry period (CDP) or (iv) contagious lactation (CL). The results of this study showed that many mastitis-related management practices that are generally considered to be important were not widely performed. A better understanding of those practices not widely adopted by UK dairy farmers at present may aid practitioners in identifying and overcoming potential barriers to improved mastitis control.

Characteristics of milk fever and mastitis following different milking method and preventive calcium injection performed during the colostrum period in dairy cattle

“…1). This result is in line with the previous report that an excessive amount of residual milk in the udder secondary to insufficient milking causes an abnormal pressure to build up within the udder and predisposes it to mastitis (Down et al, 2016). Alternatively, excessive milking results in rapid loss of calcium which leads to low blood calcium concentration predisposes the cow to milk fever (DeGaris and Lean, 2008).…”

“…Since the milk production ability and calcium metabolism differ for each cow and the milking is dependent on the performers' subjective senses and experiences, it is difficult to accurately carry out milking of each cow and maintain residual milk volumes with consistency. Failure to provide appropriate milking levels can cause milk fever and mastitis (Thilsing-Hansen et al, 2002;Down et al, 2016). Therefore, some farms use a combination of calcium injections after parturition to maintain blood calcium concentrations to prevent milk fever and/or complete milking to prevent mastitis by minimizing residual colostrum in the udder.…”

An update on environmental mastitis: Challenging perceptions

“…The adoption of sDCT at national or herd level is influenced by the attitudes of farmers, veterinarians, the public and policymakers (Higgins et al., ; Scherpenzeel et al., ). Knowledge alone is not enough, as many mastitis‐related management practices that are generally considered to be important by experts are not widely used by farmers (Down et al., ). In recent years, evidence‐based decision‐making by veterinarians and communication of health‐management advice have become topics of study in their own right (Higgins et al., ; Jansen & Lam, ).…”

Automated prediction of mastitis infection patterns in dairy herds using machine learning

“…These are generally acquired between milking times and instigate an immune response rapidly dealt with by the immune system, resulting in a transient increase in white blood cells in milk. Since the control strategies for contagious mastitis differ markedly from those for environmental mastitis 7 , the ability to correctly diagnose the predominant transmission route of mastitis on farm is essential for successful implementation of control measures 8 .…”