Neogen has developed a simple on-farm test that dairy producers and veterinarians can use to make an accurate decision regarding the treatment of a clinical case of mastitis.
The company’s new NeoFilm for Mastitis Treatment Decision kit allows for the classification of the bacteria associated with mastitis infections in just 24 hours. Only minimal equipment and training are required. The on-farm detection of the bacteria provides dairy producers with important information they can use to make better treatment decisions.
“Our simple test can help determine what type of infection is causing the clinical case of mastitis and guide the mastitis treatment decision for that cow,” said Neogen Vice President and Senior Research Director Jennifer Rice, DVM. “The goal is to make better treatment decisions on-farm by reducing the use of unnecessary antibiotics and also help keep antibiotic residues out of the milk supply.”
The test format requires only the inoculation of film containing bacterial culture medium followed by an incubation period. Following incubation, the sample pad is evaluated for bacterial growth.
The kit consists of two film types, rapid aerobic count and E. coli/coliform count. The rapid aerobic count film detects all aerobic bacteria found in a milk sample, while the E. coli/coliform film grows only gram-negative bacteria. Once it has been determined whether the mastitis infection is caused by gram-positive or gram-negative bacteria, a treatment decision could be made to resolve the infection. PD
—From Neogen Corporation news release
