No abstract

Mastitis is one of the most crucial diseases of dairy animals. Especially subclinical mastitis (SCM) has negative impacts on of dairy economy in term of reducing milk quality and quantity also premature culling and cost of therapy. Staphylococci are important etiological agents in SCM. The aim of the study was to investigate the biofilm production and antibiotic resistance profiles of Staphylococcus spp. other than S. aureus isolated from milks of Anatolian water buffalo with subclinical mastitis. Twenty-two coagulase negative staphylococci (CNS) identified phenotypically were also identified with PCR as Staphylococcus spp. other than S. aureus. Biofilm productions were investigated both by Congo Red Agar Method and PCR. The antibiotic resistance profiles of the isolates were determined by Disc Diffusion Method and they were antibiotyped. Only three (13.6%) isolates were biofilm positive both phenotypically and genotypically. All isolates except for two were resistant against at least two antibiotics. Multidrug-resistance among the isolates was low (13.6%). Antibiotyping results showed that the similarities among the strains were between 30-100%. Genotyping of the strains revealed that a genetic heterogeneity was found among CNS isolates and their similarities were between 43% and 93%. In conclusion, CNS isolates identified as subclinical mastitis agents in buffaloes showed a high antibiotic resistance profile especially against oxacillin and vancomycin. Further studies should be conducted to investigate new mechanisms and/or genes responsible for antibiotic resistance in buffaloes.

Calf diarrhea continues to be the major problem of calves in the neonatal period. The effect of zeolites has been increasingly studied in ruminant health in recent years. In the present study, the efficacy of cristobalite, a zeolite, in neonatal calf diarrhea was studied first time. For this purpose, twenty-five neonatal calves with diarrheas were divided into two groups, and Group 1 (n=12) received conventional treatment and Group 2 (n=13) received cristobalite (Zoosorb 10 mg/kg) orally 3 times a day in addition to conventional treatment. Escherichia coli k99 and CS31a, bovine rotavirus and bovine coronavirus were isolated from fecal samples at the beginning of the treatment, on the third day and before discharge. It was determined that the recovery period in Group 2 was 0.95 (20.6%) days shorter than in Group 1 (p<0.05) while no viral agents were found on the fifth day in Group 2, viral shedding continued in 4 of 5 calves in Group 1. In conclusion, the study revealed that cristobalite speeds the recovery time and possibly decreases viral shedding in neonatal calf diarrhea, demonstrating a remarkable efficiency in the treatment.