Major causes of mastitis and associated risk factors in smallholder dairy farms in and around Hawassa, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was carried out from October 2008 to May 2009 in smallholder dairy farms in and around Hawassa to estimate the prevalence of mastitis, to isolate and characterize major bacterial pathogens, and to identify possible associated factors. The study involved a total of 201 milking cows randomly drawn from smallholder farms. The prevalence of clinical and subclinical mastitis was determined through clinical examination of the udder and using mastitis indicator paper (Bovivet indicator paper, Kruuse, Denmark). The prevalence of mastitis at cow and quarter level was 30.3 (61/201) and 10.3 (79/766), respectively. Subclinical mastitis was 25.4% and 5.0% was clinical. Stage of lactation significantly affected (P < 0.05) the prevalence of mastitis, with the highest prevalence observed in the late stage of lactation (41.3%) as compared to early (25.0%) and mid (22.1%) stages of lactation. Floor type and bedding had association (P < 0.05) with mastitis prevalence. Cows housed in concrete-floored houses had lower prevalence (19.0%) of mastitis compared to cows kept in soil-floored houses (47.6%). Mastitis prevalence was low in farms which do not use bedding (23.5%) as compared to farms using hay/straw bedding (37.4%). However, age, parity, and history of mastitis had no association (P > 0.05) on the prevalence of mastitis. The pathogens isolated from mastitic cows were Staphylococcus aureus (48.6%), other staphylococci species (15.7%), Streptococcus agalactiae (11.4%), other streptococci (17.1%), Bacillus species (2.9%), and coliforms (Escherichia coli and Klebsiella species) (4.3%). Strict hygienic measure of housing and bedding should be considered, in reducing the prevalence of mastitis.

Prevalence of mastitis in dairy cows from smallholder farms in Zimbabwe

“…Compared to individual milk samples, composite milk samples may be less effective for the isolation of micro-organisms due to the dilution factor from uninfected quarters. The prevalence of clinical mastitis in our study (4.8%) is within the range of other reports from smallholder dairy farms in some countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (Abera et al 2011;Getahun et al 2008;Kivaria et al 2004). This provides further support of other studies in the region, which have concluded that sub-clinical mastitis is more prevalent than clinical mastitis (Almaw, Zerihun & Asfaw 2008;Lakew, Tolosa & Tigre 2009).…”

Detection and drug resistance profile of Escherichia coli from subclinical mastitis cows and water supply in dairy farms in Saraburi Province, Thailand

“…However, pathogenic E. coli in the environment has often been overlooked. Many studies have reported the presence of E. coli among subclinical mastitis cases in dairy farms in many regions of the world, particularly in developing countries, such as Uruguay, Turkey, Brazil, Ethiopia, Mexico, and China (Gianneechini et al, 2002; Guler & Gunduz, 2007; Fernandes et al, 2011; Haftu et al, 2012; Abera et al, 2012; Olivares-Perez et al, 2015; Wang et al, 2015). This study demonstrated the existence of pathogenic E. coli in environmental sources and also in milk from cows with subclinical mastitis by detecting specific genes associated with the pathogenic types of this species.…”

Knowledge gaps and research priorities inStaphylococcus aureusmastitis control

“…As a consequence of its contagiousness and capacity to induce long‐lasting chronic infections, S. aureus is among the few major pathogens associated with endemic mastitis all over the world (Abera, Habte, Aragaw, Asmare, & Sheferaw, ; Acosta, da Silva, Medeiros, Pinheiro, & Mota, ; Levison et al., ; Petzer, Karzis, Watermeyer, van der Schans, & van Reenen, ; Piehler, Grimholt, Ovstebo, & Berg, ; Taponen et al., ; Wang et al., ). The prevalence of S. aureus mastitis has been reduced in countries or regions that implement the standard mastitis prevention programme (Neave et al., ).…”