“Milk-drop syndrome of ewes”: Investigation of the causes in dairy sheep in Greece

Is udder ultrasonography a diagnostic tool for subclinical mastitis in sheep?

“…In a previous study (Giadinis et al, 2012), the authors indicated absence of clinical signs specific to subclinical mastitis in sheep. In the current study, hematological and biochemical findings revealed no significant changes among the different groups, indicating subclinical mastitis in ewes may have no systemic reaction as the infection is localized in the udder (Ozenc et al, 2011).…”

Effect of subclinical intramammary infection on milk quality in dairy sheep: II. Matured-pressed cheese (Manchego) produced from milk of uninfected and infected glands and from their blends

“…Coagulase negative staphylococci (CNS) are the major causes of IMI, which result in subclinical infection in all ruminant species (Bergonier and Berthelot, 2003;Silanikove et al, 2014a). These bacteria decrease milk yield and cause changes in milk composition, with a decrease of the level of lactose and increase of whey proteins and proteolytic enzymes, which have negative effects on the suitability of milk for cheese making (Gonzalo et al, 2000;Leitner et al, 2004Leitner et al, , 2008Le Maréchal et al, 2011;Marti-De Olives et al, 2011;Giadinis et al, 2012). Studies related to the effect of subclinical IMI with CNS in sheep and goats on cheese yield and quality show that CNS influence milk coagulation properties and other functional properties as free fatty acids, moisture content, flavor (Jaeggi et al, 2003;Albenzio et al, 2004;Leitner et al, 2011;Revilla et al, 2007Revilla et al, , 2009aRovai et al, 2014) and decrease its nutritional quality as reflected in reduction the content of vitamin c and total antioxidant capacity (Silanikove et al, 2014b).…”

Use of Proteomics in the Study of Mastitis in Ewes

“…The disease also causes significant adverse financial effects, which can be summarised as follows: (a) the need to cull affected ewes and to purchase replacement animals; (b) in dairy production flocks, reduced quantity and suboptimal quality (to the point of rejection) of milk from ewes with mastitis and (c) in meat producing flocks, reduced growth rate and suboptimal bodyweight of lambs of affected ewes. According to Giadinis et al [16], mastitis is the primary cause (over 85% of all incidents) of the ‘milk-drop syndrome’ in ewes, which refers to >30% reduction of flock milk production, with >25% of ewes in the flock affected, each ewe with >25% reduction in milk yield [16].…”