EVALUATION OF BOVINE TEAT CONDITION IN COMMERCIAL DAIRY HERDS: 2. INFECTIOUS FACTORS AND INFECTIONS
Table 1 Teat conditions observable according to the cause of the problem. Machine induced Environmental Infectious Discoloration Chapping Pseudocowpox Oedema Mud sores Herpes mammillitis Congestion Suckling damage Cowpox Wedging Fly bites Papilloma Ringing Other abrasions and cuts Foot and Mouth Disease Hemorrhaging petechia Weather damage Vesicular Stomatitis Hemorrhaging larger Allergic reactions Ringworm [Hyperkeratosis] Photosensitization Staphylococcus aureus Chemical damage Streptococcus dysgalactiae Arcanobacterium pyogenes Fusiformis necrophorum
The National Mastitis Council: A Global Organization for Mastitis Control and Milk Quality, 50 Years and Beyond
The National Mastitis Council was founded in 1961 based on the desire of a forward-thinking group of individuals to bring together “all forces of organized agriculture in the United States to combat, through every practical device, the mastitis threat to the Nation’s health and food safety”. What started as a small organization focused on mastitis of dairy cattle in the United States has grown into a global organization for mastitis and milk quality. Over the last 50-plus years the concerted efforts of the membership have led to the synthesis and dissemination of a considerable body of knowledge regarding udder health, milk quality, and food safety which has improved dairy cattle health and well-being and farm productivity.
Milking vacuum influencing indicators of udder health.
In 23 first-calf heifers we ascertained effects that milking vacuums of 34, 42.5, and 51 kPa had on udder health by percentage of quarter-samples positive for Staphylococcus aureus, total counts of bacteria on blood agar, teat end scores, California Mastitis Test, and direct microscopic somatic cell count. Measures were higher for 51 kPa than for 34 or 42.5 kPA. Samples from cows milked at 42.5 kPa had a lower percentage of samples positive for Staphylococcus aureus, lower total count, lower California Mastitis Test, and lower direct microscopic somatic cell count than samples from cows milked with 34 kPa. Test end scores increased with increase in milking vacuum. Approximately 49% of the samples from cows milked with 51 KPa were positive for Staphylococcus aureus compared with 19.9 and 16.7% for 34 and 42.5 kPa. Milking vacuum of 51 kPa resulted in the highest percentage of cows with three (44.5%) and four (24.1%) quarters positive for Staphylococcus aureus. A milking vacuum of 51 kPa could increase mastitis in a herd having Staphylococcus aureus as the prevalent microorganism causing mastitis.