Bovine mastitis, primarily caused by microbial infections
of cow
mammary glands leading to inflammation, is the costliest disease in
the dairy industry. The severity and the responsiveness of mastitis
to treatment depend on the dynamic interplay between the host, pathogen,
and environmental factors. Evidently, the prospects of managing mastitis
with conventional antibiotic treatment and disease management strategies
are grim with the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and
the prevalence of virulence characteristics such as biofilm formation
and intracellular survival among the persistent pathogens. Thus, there
is a need for safe and economically viable alternate therapies capable
of targeting broad-spectrum pathogens displaying AMR and virulence
characteristics. Recent progress in the application of nanotechnology
in drug delivery and infection control provides unprecedented opportunities
for resolving recalcitrant infections. While the advantages of nanotechnology
have been exploited for therapeutic delivery in humans, the potential
of nanotechnology is yet to be realized in animal agriculture, especially
for treating bovine mastitis. This review provides an overview of
risk factors and pathogenesis associated with bovine mastitis that
challenge the success of current treatment strategies and highlights
how those unique challenges could be exploited for designing effective
nano-enabled antibacterial combination therapy for bovine mastitis
treatment.