Mastitis in Cattles, Mammary Inflammation in Large Ruminants

Mastitis in Animals

1. Bovine Mastitis
Case Study

2. What’s mastitis ?
Inflammation of one or more quarters of
the udder
Normal
Inflamed
Swelling
pain
warm
redness
Mammae = breast
-itis = Latin suffix for
inflammation

3. Causes
•Intramammary Infection (IMI):
–Bacterial infection
–Mycoplasmal infection
–Mycotic (fungal) infection
–Algal infection
•Mechanical traumaPredisposes
•Thermal trauma the gland to IMI
•Chemical insult

4. Economic Losses
•Mastitis accounted for 26% of the total cost of all dairy
cattle diseases.
•Losses from mastitis were twice as high as losses from
infertility and reproductive diseases.
•Sources of loss
–Reduced milk production
–Discarded milk
–Early cow replacement costs
–Reduced cow sale value
–Drugs
–Veterinary services
–labor

7. Timing of infection and stage of
lactation
•Active involution
–High Pressure in the gland
–Bacteria inside the gland
–Teat dipping ceases.
–Dry cow treatmentcannot reduce coliform during active
involution.

8. Timing of infection and stage of
lactation
•Early lactation
–Metabolically stressed
–Mastitis is sometimes associated with high
concentrate feeding which accompanies early
lactation.

9. Development of mastitis and the cow’s defense against the infection

10. The major routes of bacterial transmission

11. Mastitis Clinical Syndromes
•Categorized based on Severity of Immune Response
–Peracute Mastitis: sudden onset, severe inflammation of the
udder, and serous milk-Systemic illness often precedes the
symptoms manifested in the milk and mammary gland.
–Acute Mastitis: sudden onset, moderate to severe inflammation
of the udder, decreased production, and occurrence of serous
milk/fibrin clots, Systemic signs are similar but less severe than
for the peracute form.

12. Mastitis Clinical Syndromes
•Subacute Mastitis: mild inflammation, no visible changes
in udder, but there generally are small flakes or clots in
the milk, and the milk may have an off-color. There are
no systemic signs of illness.
•Chronic Mastitis: Chronic mastitis may persist in a
subclinical form for months or years with occasional
clinical flare-ups. Treatment usually involves treating the
clinical flare-ups, or culling the cow from the herd.

13. Mastitis Clinical Syndromes
•Subclinical Mastitis: the most common form of
mastitis, 15x40 X more common than clinical
mastitis, no gross inflammation of the udder
and no gross changes in the milk, decreased
production and decreased milk quality
•Elevated Somatic Cell Count

18. Abnormal Udder

23. Somatic Cell Count
•~98-99% White Blood Cell + 1-2% Epithelial cells from
milk-secreting tissue
•Cow’s natural defense mechanism
•Normal or uninfected cow: 50,000-200,000 cells/ml
•>200,000 cells/ml: the likelihood of infection increase

24. Effects on Milk Quality
•Subclinical mastitis results in INCREASES in
undesirable milk components and DECREASES
in the desirable components.
•Pasteurized milk that is processed from raw
milk with a somatic cell count below 250,000
has a significantly longer shelf-life than
products made from milk with a somatic cell
count above 500,000.

25. How severe can mastitis be ?
Subclinical Mastitis
–~ 90 -95% of all mastitis
cases
–Udder appears normal
–Milk appears normal
–Elevated SCC (score 3-5)
–Lowered milk output
(~ 10%)
–Longer duration
Clinical Mastitis
–~ 5 -10% of all mastitis cases
–Inflamed udder
–Clumps and clots in milk
•Acute type
•major type of clinical
mastitis
•bad milk
•loss of appetite
•depression
–prompt attention needed
•Chronic type
•bad milk
•cow appears healthy

26. What causes mastitis ?
•Bacteria ( ~ 70%)
•Yeasts and molds ( ~ 2%)
–Unknown ( ~ 28%)
•physical
•trauma
•weather extremes

27. Where do these organisms come from ?
•Infected udder
–Environment
–bedding
–soil
–water
•manure
•Replacement animals

28. Process of infection
Organisms invade the udder through
teat canal
Migrate up the teat canal and colonize the
secretory cells
Colonized organisms produce toxic substances
harmful to the milk producing cells

29. The cow’s immune system send white blood
cells (Somatic cells) to fight the organisms
recovery clinical subclinical

30. Organisms
•Contagious microorganisms
–Staphylococcus aureus
–Streptococcus agalactiae
–Mycoplasma bovis
–Corynebacterium bovis
•Environmental microorganisms
–Environmental streptococci
–Coliform
•Opportunistic microorganisms
–Staphylococcus spp.(CNS)
•Others
–Pseudomonas aeruginosa
–Actinomyces pyogenes
–NocardiaSpecies

37. Standardized Milking Procedures
•Stanchion/ Tie stall
–Wear gloves
–Wipe off excess dry manure,
straw and bedding
–Strip each teat into a stripcup
–Dip teats with an approved
pre-dip
–Allow the pre-dip to react for
at least 30 sec.
•Parlor
–Wear Gloves
–Wipe off excess dry manure,
straw and bedding
–Strip each teat into a stripcup
–Dip teats with an approved
pre-dip Dip 3-4 cows
–Allow the pre-dip to react for
at least 30 sec.

38. Visualization and palpation of the udder
Detection of Somatic Cells
California Mastitis Test
Detection of Mastitis
N-acetyl-ß-D-glucosaminidase (NAGase)
-a lysosomal enzyme which increases in milk
when mastitis is present

47. Good Milking Procedures
•1. Provide Cows with a Clean, Stress-Free Environment
•2. Check Foremilk and Udder for Mastitis
•3. Wash Teats and Lower Surface of the Udder with a
Warm Sanitizing Solution
•4. Use a Premilking Teat Dip (Optional)
•5. Dry Teats Thoroughly
•6. Attach Teat Cups within 1 min.
•7. Adjust Milking Units as Necessary
•8. Shut Off Vacuum Before Removing Teat Cups
•9. Dip Teats with a Safe and Effective Teat Dip
•10. Disinfect Teat Cups Between Cows (Optional)