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Editor’s note: This is the final article of a three-part series.
With traditional mastitis detection methods, complex media are used for the growth and isolation of bacterial organisms. On-farm preparation, storage and proper incubation of the medium is a tedious and time-consuming process.
Editor’s note: This is the second of a three-part series. Click here to read the first article.
I wrote in the first part of this series that it is important for the dairyman to first find out what he’s fighting and then work with the herd veterinarian on the treatment.
By knowing what is causing the mastitis on their farm, the dairyman and their herd veterinarian are able to use the appropriate antimicrobial drugs.
Armed with this knowledge, they may see a decrease in the total treatment duration or a reduction in the use of unnecessary broad-spectrum antimicrobials.
Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part series.
Traditional bacterial culture has been the “gold standard” method for the identification of mastitis-causing bacteria for many years.
However, traditional culture is a slow and time-consuming process that allows dairy cattle with subclinical or clinical mastitis to commingle with their herdmates, potentially allowing for the spread of contagious mastitis bacteria.
