The association between bedding material and the bacterial counts of Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus uberis and coliform bacteria on teat skin and in teat canals in lactating dairy cattle

Abstract

Several mastitis-causing pathogens are able to colonize the bovine teat canal. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between the treatment of sawdust bedding with a commercial alkaline conditioner and the bacterial counts on teat skin and in the teat canal. The study used a crossover design. Ten lactating Holstein cows that were free of udder infections and mastitis were included in the study. The animals were bedded on either untreated sawdust or sawdust that had been treated with a hydrated lime-based conditioner. Once a day, fresh bedding material was added. After 3 weeks, the bedding material was removed from the cubicles, fresh bedding material was provided, and the cows were rotated between the two bedding material groups. Teat skin and teat canals were sampled using the wet and dry swab technique after weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus uberis, Escherichia coli and other coliform bacteria were detected in the resulting agar plate cultures. The treatment of the bedding material was associated with the teat skin bacterial counts of Str. uberis, Esch. coli and other coliform bacteria. An association was also found between the bedding material and the teat canal bacterial counts of coliform bacteria other than Esch. coli. For Staph. aureus, no associations with the bedding material were found. In general, the addition of a hydrated lime-based conditioner to sawdust reduces the population sizes of environmental pathogens on teat skin and in teat canals.

An update on environmental mastitis: Challenging perceptions

“…Both alkaline and acidic conditioners have been used successfully to modify coliform and streptococcal counts on cow mattresses (Kristula et al., ) and in sawdust (Paduch, Mohr, & Krömker, ; Proietto et al., ). When using lime, both positive and negative effects were observed at teat level, that is, a reduction of bacterial counts as well as damage to teat skin (Kristula et al., ; Paduch et al., ). With acidifiers, neither positive nor negative effects were observed (Kristula et al., ; Proietto et al., ).…”

“…Tools to manage bacterial counts in bedding include bedding replacement and the use of bedding conditioners. Both alkaline and acidic conditioners have been used successfully to modify coliform and streptococcal counts on cow mattresses (Kristula et al, 2008) and in sawdust (Paduch, Mohr, & Kr€ omker, 2013;Proietto et al, 2013). When using lime, both positive and negative effects were observed at teat level, that is, a reduction of bacterial counts as well as damage to teat skin (Kristula et al, 2008;Paduch et al, 2013).…”

Typeability of MALDI-TOF assay for identification of non-aureus staphylococci associated with bovine intramammary infections and teat apex colonization

“…Cows were fixed in head lockers or tied. Teat swab samples were collected according to the modified wet-dry method (Paduch et al, 2013). Briefly, the teat skin was sampled after cleaning with dry tissue paper.…”

Bovine Streptococcus uberis Intramammary Infections and Mastitis

“…As stated by Hughes [52], S. uberis is not able to grow in bedding materials at pH values above 9.5. Paduch et al [45] showed that the alkalisation of sawdust bedding reduces teat skin bacterial counts of S. uberis. However, associations between the alkalisation and teat canal bacterial counts could not be found for S. uberis.…”

“…Starting from the oral and lips mucosae, the pathogen is distributed via licking into the environment, including fur and epidermis of other cows. Furthermore, bovine faeces (and with that, the intestinal mucosa) also contribute strongly to its dissemination in the environment [36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45]. Despite the detection of S. uberis in bovine teat canals, it remains unclear if-unlike cow-associated mastitis pathogens like Staphylococcus (S.) aureus and S. agalactiae-the environmental-associated pathogen S. uberis is able to colonize the teat canal epithelium [46][47][48].…”