Mastitis in Dairy Cattle: On-Farm Diagnostics and Future Perspectives

Abstract

Mastitis is one of the most important diseases in dairy cattle farms, and it can affect the health status of the udder and the quantity and quality of milk yielded. The correct management of mastitis is based both on preventive and treatment action. With the increasing concern for antimicrobial resistance, it is strongly recommended to treat only the mammary quarters presenting intramammary infection. For this reason, a timely and accurate diagnosis is fundamental. The possibility to detect and characterize mastitis directly on farm would be very useful to choose the correct management protocol. Some on-field diagnostic tools are already routinely applied to detect mastitis, such as the California Mastitis Test and on-farm culture. Other instruments are emerging to perform a timely diagnosis and to characterize mastitis, such as Infra-Red Thermography, mammary ultrasound evaluation and blood gas analysis, even if their application still needs to be improved. The main purpose of this article is to present an overview of the methods currently used to control, detect, and characterize mastitis in dairy cows, in order to perform a timely diagnosis and to choose the most appropriate management protocol, with a specific focus on on-farm diagnostic tools.

Production, Composition and Nutritional Properties of Organic Milk: A Critical Review

“…Mastitis stands out as the most widespread and economically impactful disease in dairy cattle globally, primarily attributed to diminished milk production, discarded milk, premature culling, and associated treatment expenses [92]. Bovine mastitis is a polymicrobial disease with the principal etiological agents being Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus dysgalactiae, and Streptococcus uberis [93].…”

A Rapid and Inexpensive PCR Test for Mastitis Diagnosis Based on NGS Data

“…It is important to note that not all intramammary infections (IMIs) need Pathogens 2024, 13, 423 2 of 15 antibiotic treatment. The decision to administer antibiotics should be based on diagnostic and sensitivity test outcomes, rather than on presumptive treatment [11].…”

“…Studies by Bexiga et al showed that microbiological methods allow the identification of only 47% of mastitis cases compared to the PCR method [15]. Moreover, traditional methods, such as the Somatic Cell Count (SCC), offer quick, cost-effective and field-friendly solutions, but they do not provide specific detection [11].…”

Performance evaluation of a rapid immunochromatographic test kit in detecting bovine mastitis-causing streptococci

“…Although antibiotic administration remains the primary treatment for mastitis, the specific antibiotic class required to exterminate the pathogens that cause mastitis can vary [ 27 ]. Moreover, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of Japan, advocates a reduction in antibiotic administration to treat bovine mastitis in accordance with Roberson’s recommendations [ 24 ].…”

“…The traditional method of bacterial cultivation, commonly employed in a microbiological laboratory or on farms, is widely used for pathogen identification [ 4 , 27 ]. However, bacterial culture requires more than 24 hr to proliferate; such a long cultivation period often worsens the symptoms of mastitis.…”