A comparative field trial of cephalonium and cloxacillin for dry cow therapy for mastitis in Australian dairy cows

Abstract

There was no significant difference between treatments on quarter cure rates for new infections, for chronic infections and for infections with Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae and Streptococcus uberis. Infected quarters treated with cephalonium had a significantly higher cure rate than quarters treated with cloxacillin when Corynebacterium bovis and Staphylococcus epidermids were included as pathogens combined (80.3% versus 70.7%). There was no significant difference between the treatments on somatic cell counts of infected cows at the first two herd tests after calving. There was no difference between treatments on the incidence of clinical mastitis in the first 7 days after calving.

Environmental mastitis in intensive high‐producing dairy herds in New South Wales

“…Streptococcus uberis has emerged as the predominant mastitis pathogen in pasture‐based dairy farms in Australia, accounting for 26.6% to 60.3% of bacterial isolates, 4–6 but the pathogen profile of the high‐producing dairies included in the current survey differs from this. Although bacteria from the genus Streptococcus accounted for the largest proportion of environmental isolates, Escherichia coli was the most commonly isolated organism, accounting for 28.1% of environmental isolates compared with 0.98% to 4.3% reported for pasture‐based systems 4,5 . The higher frequency of E. coli as compared with Strep.…”

“…This declining prevalence has been associated with a concomitant increase in the incidence of environmental mastitis. 2,3 Three publications during the past 20 years provide data on mastitis pathogen prevalence in Australian dairy cows, [4][5][6] and all originate from pasture-based dairy farms in the Macalister Irrigation District in Victoria. In each study environmental mastitis pathogens were isolated more frequently than contagious pathogens.…”

Treatment of Mastitis in Cattle

“…The FDA-approved dosing regimen is 1 tube containing 500 mg ceftiofur Check treatment information and milk and meat withdrawal times with drug manufacturer before prescribing based on this information. 42,44,45,[47][48][49][53][54][55][57][58][59][78][79][80][81][82][83] into each affected quarter at the time of dry off, no later than 30 days before calving. 43 Spectramast DC was approved for use in 2005, and thus the few studies that include ceftiofur hydrochloride as a treatment are more current and may be more generalizable to modern dairy farms in North America.…”

Viability of Mammary Bovine Leukocytes Challenged With Anti-Mastitis Drugs

“…The efficiency of the drugs used to treat cows in the dry period and their action against microbiological agents is already known (7)(8)(9) ; however, this efficiency is not necessarily related to the way these agents affect the activity of the mammary gland's defense cells (3,4) . Based in the hypothesis that the efficiency of an antimastitis drug, especially those indicated for the treatment during the dry period, does not depend only on their antimicrobial effect, the present study intended to evaluate the effect of the drug (antimicrobial and vehicle) on the cellular viability using the in vitro Trypan Blue exclusion technique.…”

“…Thereby, the use of antimicrobials is effective in the elimination of microorganisms (7)(8)(9) ; however, its effects related to the viability of phagocytic cells have not been elucidated. We have to consider that to have therapeutic efficiency, the drugs must execute their functions without impairing cell survival.…”