WITHDRAWN: Study On Prevalence Of Bovine Mastitis, Associated Risk Factors, And Isolation Of Staphylococcus Species And Escherichia Coli From Mastitic Milk In Dairy Farms Of Wolaita Sodo Town And Its Suburbs, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Mastitis is one of the most widespread and costly mammary gland diseases in dairy cattle, causing a great deal of loss of production and having a major economic impact on the dairy industry worldwide. This study was aimed at determining the prevalence of bovine mastitis, identifying associated risk factors, and isolating Staphylococcus species and E. coli from the mastitic milk of lactating cows on dairy farms. A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2022 to April 2023 on selected dairy farms in Wolaita Sodo town and its suburbs, Southern Ethiopia. A total of 284 lactating cows were selected using a simple random sampling method and examined for the detection of bovine mastitis. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the prevalence of bovine mastitis, while the Chi-square test and logistic regression were used to determine the association between the prevalence of bovine mastitis and risk factors. Out of the total animals examined, 30.6% (87/284) had mastitis, while 3.5% (10/284) and 27.1% (77/284) had clinical and subclinical mastitis, respectively. The quarter-level prevalence was 14.4% (164/1136), from which the clinical and subclinical forms were 2.1% (24/1136) and 12.3% (140/1136), respectively, whereas 3.5% (40/1136) of the quarters were blind. There was a significant correlation between the occurrence of mastitis in lactating cows (p < 0.05) and risk factors such as breed, lactation stage, milk yield, previous mastitis history, floor type, and usage of towels. The predominant bacteria isolated in this study were Staphylococcus aureus (35.9%), followed by E. coli (23.5%), coagulase-negative Staphylococcus species (18.7%), Staphylococcus intermedius (12.5%), and Staphylococcus hyicus (9.4%). The current study revealed that mastitis was a major health problem of dairy cows in the study areas. Therefore, enhancing the awareness of dairy farmers, improving hygienic conditions, regular screening of subclinical mastitis, dry cow therapy, culling of chronically infected cows, and further advanced studies on different pathogenic microorganisms and antimicrobial sensitivity testing of those microorganisms that cause mastitis are critically important to control and prevent bovine mastitis in the study area.