Prevalence and associated risk factors of mastitis in lactating dairy cows

Background: Mastitis has been known to cause a great deal of loss or reduction of productivity, to influence the quality and quantity of milk yield, and to cause culling of animals at an unacceptable age. Apart of its economic importance it also carries public health significance. Although sub clinical mastitis (SCM) is more prevalent than clinical mastitis in developing countries including India, as sub clinical disease is not manifested as visible changes in the mammary glands or in the milk, it is therefore not easily recognized by farmers. Methods: A study was conducted to determine the prevalence of mastitis and associated risk factors. The screening for mastitis was done by Sodium lauryl sulphate test (SLST) as per the method of Pandit and Mehta (1969) and Somatic cell count (SCC) (Schalm et al. 1971). Clinical mastitis was confirmed on the basis of physical examination of udder and visual examination of milk for presence of flakes, clots, pus, odor and discoloration apart the tests used for SCM. Quarter was defined as mastitis positive if it have a SLST score of >1+ or SCC 5 X 105 per ml of milk and a animal was define as mastitis positive when it has atleast one of quarters with a SLST score 1+ or >5 X 105 per ml of milk. For SCC, a quarter will be considered to have mastitis when the SCC >5 X 105 per ml of milk. Results: In the present study, a total of 46 (18.04%) cows and 65 (6.97%) quarters had clinical mastitis. A total number of cows affected with sub clinical mastitis were 196 (76.86%) out of 255 by SLST and 172 (67.45%) out of 255 cows by SCC and 8.63% teats were blind. Among risk factors, the higher prevalence was in 2nd and 8th parities and late stage of lactation. Age wise 3 to 6 years old cows had high prevalence (55.10%) followed by >6 years age and <3 years old age cows. Conclusion: Sub clinical form of mastitis in dairy animals is highly prevalent than clinical. Prevalence is high in 3-6 years old cows. Therefore, need special attention towards its controll measures by awaring the farmers and updating the veterinary practitioners regarding this deadly disease. Abstracts for SupplementInternational Journal of Infectious DiseasesVol. 14Preview Full-Text PDF Open Archive