1. Mastitis Prevention and Treatment
Jeff Bleck, DVM
Kettle Moraine Large Animal Clinic
Plymouth, WI 1

2. Mastitis Happens! Focus on: A. Prevention Treatment
1. Vaccinations
2. Environment
3. Milking process
Treatment
1. Culturing Programs
2. Appropriate Therapy 2

3. Mastitis is often the end result of the interaction of several factors.
MAN
MASTITIS
MANAGEMENT
MICRO-
ORGANISMS
COW
ENVIRONMENT 3

4. Mastitis Vaccines Effective Immunization is Difficult
Volume of milk dilutes the # of immune cells
Fat and casein reduce bactericidal abilities of immune cells
Cows are exposed to numerous bacteria
Milk is an excellent substrate for growth

5. Vaccine Types E. Coli Staphylococcus aureus Somato-Staph Lysigen
J-5 Bacterin
J-Vac
Endo-Vac Bovi
Use gram-negative core antigens to produce non-specific immunity directed against endotoxic disease

6. Compliance?
60-80%
30-40%

7. E. Coli Vaccination Programs
Farm Specific-Based on Bacterial challenge
Three shot program
Quarterly
Seasonally
Monthly
Hyper-immunization

8. SRP Vaccine Technology

9. All that stands between the udder and infection…9

10. Anatomy of Teat Defense

11. Cow Environment
CLEAN “ Hygiene is a dominant factor in mastitis control, influenced primarily by cow comfort, ventilation and bedding” Fetrow et al (2002)
Usually we start in the parlor and finish with the environment. In reality we need to focus on the environment first. 11

12. Minimize bacterial load /maximize immunity
Dry
Clean
Comfortable 12

13. Correlation Between Bedding Contamination and the Bacteria in Milk
cfu/gm
Milk
cfu/ml
Pen # ,000,
Pen # ,000,
Pen # ,000,
Farnsworth & Reneau Unpub, 1989 13 13

14. "Creating Your Playbook for Success" - A course for Parlor Managers.14 14

15. Bacteria Counts on Individual Sand Samples (cfu/cc) 15 15

16. Critical to decreasing bacteria numbers in stalls
Bedding Frequency
Critical to decreasing bacteria numbers in stalls 16

17. Bedding sand on schedule of 3 times in 2 weeks
Bedding sand on schedule of 3 times in 2 weeks. Grooming with cement hoe at each shift.

18. Goal Keep total bacteria counts below 2-4 million
Keep coliform bacteria counts below 1 million (1,000,000 /cc).
Keep environmental streptococci below million/cc.
Environmental hygiene is critical in preventing environmental mastitis.
Keep Bedding materials as dry as possible. 18 18

19. What Are The Stalls Telling You??
More manure, more mastitis!

20. 20

21. 21

22. Conclusion
Controlling exposure to environmental pathogens between milkings is important for udder hygiene.
Bedding material must be properly maintained to reduce exposure, prevent udder infections and reduce SCC.
Bedding materials must be carefully selected. 22 22

23. Now its time to move into the parlor or milking barn.
>75% of Clinical Mastitis occurs during the milking process 23

24. Slip/squawk What teat has backjetting?24

25. Clean!Clean!Clean! Milkers must wear gloves! And Keep them Clean!
Keep Milking Units Clean
Keep cow platforms Clean 25

26. GLOVES I tried them and didn’t see any improvement!26

27. What We Know
Positive relationship exists between bacteria on teat ends and intramammary infections (Newbold, 1970, NMC).
Rates of clinical mastitis are related to bacterial counts in bedding (Hogan, et. al, J. Dairy Sci 72:250, 1989).
Exposing teat ends to >1,000,000 coliform bacteria increases the probability of intramammary infection (Bramley and Neave Br. Vet. J. 131:160, 1975).

28. Udder Prep Research clearly shows the BEST you can do is reduce bacteria numbers by 85% with a perfect milking routine.

29. 1,000,000 Bacteria At Start 100,000 Bacteria At Start
150,000 After Cleaning
15,000 After Cleaning 29

30. Maximize Teat End Health
Milking procedures / machines
Flies
Weather
Other stressors
Maximize Teat End Health 30

31. >80% should score 1 or 2

32. Focus on Cleaning teat ends!
Bacteria Normal Routine Normal Routine
No Teat Ends Clean Teat Ends
ENVIRONMENTALS
Strep Species ,
Coliforms , 32

33. Best Ways to Reduce Bacteria on Teats Compared to No Udder Prep
Dry Towel Only %
Wet Towel Only %
Wet Towel + Udder Sanitizer %
Wet Towel and Manual Dry -77%
Wet Towel, Udder Sanitizer, and
Manual Dry %
Predip and Manual Dry %
Source: Cornell University

34. Adequate Drying Most important step in premilking hygiene
Moisture is a growth requirement for bacteria
Herds that dried teats had SCC 44,000 cell/ml lower than herds that did not
Moxley et al., 1978
Wet towels can’t adequately dry teats
Galton et al., 1984

35. Teat End Cleanliness
Goal >85% 1’s and 2’s 35

36. Remember, what is on the teat end when the milking unit is attached goes in the tank.
Look at bulk tank records!
High environmental counts (coliforms or non-ag streptococcus, and staphylococcus species) are good indicators better cow hygiene (pre-milking cow preparation) and better bedding management is needed.

37. Unit Cleanliness Keep units off of the platform
Drop hoses should contain sanitizer with proper concentration
Wash units between groups or as needed
Keep liner heads clean and vent holes open
Drying liner heads when wet or dirty
Keep platforms clean
Washing units may not be priority takes time make sure to due what meets goals and not whats convenient 37

38. Unit Alignment Much more important than people think!
Unit must be square on udder with forward pull to get even milk outs and minimize slips
Don’t forget about teat alignment
Make sure teat is properly seeded in the liner and not twisted
Kink short milk tube to limit air admission 38

39. Poor Tie Stall Alignment

40. Teat Dipping
Primary Reason to Teat Dip is to Remove the Milk Film Left on the Teat After Milking With a Layer of Germicide

41. Teat Dip Coverage
Pre and Post Dip or Foam coverage should be at least 75% 41

42. Culturing Programs Need appropriate sample collection and storage
Must have a plan to utilize information
Individual cow cultures-fresh, clinicals, high scc cows (two different plans)
Bulk tank cultures
Bedding cultures
If you don’t have a “game plan” don’t waste your money! 42

43. Bulk Tank Cultures
Utilize your bulk tank cultures because they are a source of information on how good your cow’s teats are being
cleaned.
Bulk tank cultures definitely show inconsistency!
Management Tip:
Monitor milker performance trends using BTC by shift. 43

44. Clinical Mastitis Grading System
Grade 1
mild (milk only - clots & flakes)
Grade 2
moderate (milk & udder swelling)
Grade 3
severe (milk, udder swelling & cow-systemically sick)
Know what to due when they find mastitis. Clinicals will go up if you have excellent detection. Bucket cow, quarter milk, sort cow 44

45. Objectives of Mastitis Therapy
1. Return to Saleable Milk ASAP
Establish Clinical Cure
Avoid Drug Residue
2. Reduce Somatic Cell Count
3. Limit Udder Damage
Minimize long-term milk loss
4. Achieve bacteriological cure
Prevents spread of mastitis
Prevents relapses 45

46. Antibacterial Therapy
Response to Treatment Influenced by:
Cows immune response
Severity of mastitis
Duration of infection
Causative pathogen
Drug used

47. The targeted compartment should be considered when choosing antibiotic treatment
Milk- environmental Streps. And Staphs.
Blood- E.coli, Klebsiella
Mammary tissue- Staph. Aureus, some Streps, E.coi

48. All IMM Drugs are Time Dependent
Must give at periodic regular intervals (8, 12, 24 hours)
Extending the duration of therapy better than a higher dose

49. Failure of Therapy Stopping therapy to soon
Swollen udder parenchyma/blocked milk ducts
Scar tissue/micro-abcesses
Inactivation by milk and tissue proteins
Microbial resistance

50. Treatment Protocols Grade 1 1) IMM tube for 3 days
2) Anti-inflammatory drug
Grade ) IMM tube for 7 days
2) Anti-inflammatory drug
3) Supportive fluid therapy
4) Systemic Antibiotic

51. Blanket protocols don’t always work!
Example: Cow#100-mastitis LR, Grade 1
DIM=180, PG-90days, Milk=65lbs.
xmast=4, SCC=3 million, culture-
environmental strep.
What treatment option would you choose? 51

52. Treatment Decisions 1. Treat as per protocol
2. Culture and use extended therapy treatment
3. Move to hospital until no sign of clinical
mastitis.(No Treat)
4. Dry up quarter
5. Quarter milk
6. Dry off cow early(double dry treat, etc)
7. Cull cow
8. Remove teat
Communicate between herd manager and parlor manager to see what will work 52

53. Clean Cows=Less Mastitis=More Milk53 53