Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T18:31:16.818Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Selection of cows for treatment at dry-off on organic dairy farms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 November 2016

Klemens Kiesner
Affiliation:
Faculty II, Department of Bioprocess Engineering – Microbiology, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hannover, Heisterbergallee 12, 30453 Hannover, Germany Clinic for Cattle, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bischofsholer Damm 15, 30173 Hannover, Germany
Nicole Wente
Affiliation:
Faculty II, Department of Bioprocess Engineering – Microbiology, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hannover, Heisterbergallee 12, 30453 Hannover, Germany
Otto Volling
Affiliation:
Bioland e.V., Bahnhofsstraße 15d, 27374 Visselhövede, Germany
Volker Krömker*
Affiliation:
Faculty II, Department of Bioprocess Engineering – Microbiology, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hannover, Heisterbergallee 12, 30453 Hannover, Germany Clinic for Cattle, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bischofsholer Damm 15, 30173 Hannover, Germany
*
*For correspondence; e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Restrictions regarding the use of antibiotics make selective antibiotic dry cow therapy (DCT) mandatory on organic farms in Germany. This requires methods for identifying cows with an intramammary infection (IMI) at dry-off. The aim of this field study was to create a decision scheme for the use of DCT based on cow level factors associated with IMI at dry-off and the probability of both cure and new infection (NI) during the dry period. Data from 250 cows from five organic farms were collected including somatic cell counts (SCC) from Dairy Herd Improvement (DHI) records, California mastitis test (CMT) results at dry-off, clinical mastitis (CM) history, parity and dry-off treatment. IMI at dry-off were most accurate identified using a geometric mean SCC of 100 000 cells/ml as a threshold at either one or three DHI records prior to dry-off. Using a combination of SCC with either CM history, CMT at dry off or parity slightly increased the sensitivity of detection (SE). The probability of cure of the infection over the dry period increased with use of both antibiotic DCT and application of an internal teat sealant (ITS) and decreased when the dry period was longer than 56 d. The risk of NI decreased with the use of ITS and infections with minor pathogens at dry-off. Compared with the selection performed by the farmers during the study period identification of IMI based on the selection criterion with a defined SCC threshold achieved a higher SE.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Proprietors of Journal of Dairy Research 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barkema, HW, Schukken, YH, Lam, TJ, Galligan, DT, Beiboer, ML & Brand, A 1997 Estimation of interdependence among quarters of the bovine udder with subclinical mastitis and implications for analysis. Journal of Dairy Science 80 15921599 Google Scholar
Berry, EA & Hillerton, JE 2002a The effect of selective dry cow treatment on new intramammary infections. Journal of Dairy Science 85 112121 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berry, EA & Hillerton, JE 2002b The effect of an intramammary teat seal on new intramammary infections. Journal of Dairy Science 85 25122520 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berry, EA, Hogeveen, H & Hillerton, JE 2004 Decision tree analysis to evaluate dry cow strategies under UK conditions. Journal of Dairy Research 71 409418 Google Scholar
Biggs, A, Barret, D, Bradley, A, Green, M, Reyher, K & Zadocks, R 2016 Antibiotic dry cow therapy: where next? Veterinary Record 178 9394 Google Scholar
Bioland 2015 Bioland Standards. Mainz, Germany: Bioland Google Scholar
Bradley, AJ & Green, MJ 2004 The importance of the nonlactating period in the epidemiology of intramammary infection and strategies for prevention. Veterinary Clinics Food Animal Practice 20 547668 Google Scholar
Eberhart, RJ 1986 Management of dry cows to reduce mastitis. Journal of Dairy Science 69 17211732 Google Scholar
European Commission 2008 Commission regulation (EC) No 859/2008. Official Journal of the European Union L250 184 Google Scholar
German Veterinary Association 2009 Leitlinien zur Entnahme von Milchproben unter antiseptischen Bedingungen und Isolierung und Identifizierung von Mastitiserregern [Guidelines for Aseptic Milk Sampling and guIdelines to Isolate and Identify Mastitis Pathogens], 2nd edn. Gießen, Germany: German Veterinary Association Google Scholar
Green, MJ, Green, LE, Medley, GF, Schukken, YH & Bradley, AJ 2002 Influence of dry period bacterial intramammary infection on clinical mastitis in dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science 85 25892599 Google Scholar
Halasa, T, Nielen, M, Whist, AC & Osteras, O 2009 Meta-analysis of dry cow management for dairy cattle. Part 2. Cure of existing intramammary infections. Journal of Dairy Science 92 31503157 Google Scholar
Hayton, AJ & Bradley, A 2004 The control of mastitis on organic units. In Proceedings of the British Mastitis Conference, Stoneleigh, pp. 2736 Google Scholar
Hogan, JS, Smith, KL, Todhunter, DA & Schoenberger, PS 1988 Rate of environmental mastitis in quarters infected with Corynebacterium bovis and staphylococcus species. Journal of Dairy Science 71 25202525 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huxley, JN, Green, MJ, Green, LE & Bradley, AJ 2002 Evaluation of the efficacy of an internal teat sealer during the dry period. Journal of Dairy Science 85 551561 Google Scholar
Huxley, JN, Green, MJ & Bradley, AJ 2003 Corynebacterium bovis – friend or foe? In Proceedings of the British Mastitis Conference, Garstang, pp. 2334 Google Scholar
Krömker, V & Volling, O 2007 Therapeutisches Eutergesundheitsmanagment in Milchviehbetrieben des ökologischen Landbaus [Therapeutic udder heatlth management in organic dairy farms]. In Proceedings 9. Wissenschaftstagung Ökologischer Landbau, Stuttgart, Germany, pp. 36 Google Scholar
Newton, HAT, Green, MJ, Benchaoui, H, Cracknell, V, Rowan, T & Bradley, AJ 2008 Comparison of the efficacy of cloxacillin alone and cloxacillin combined with an internal teat sealant for dry-cow therapy. Veterinary Record 162 678684 Google Scholar
Osteras, O 2006 Mastitis epidemiology, practical approaches and applications. In Proceedings 24. World Buiatrics Congress, Nice, France Google Scholar
Pantoja, JC, Hulland, C & Ruegg, PL 2009 Dynamics of somatic cell counts and intramammary infections across the dry period. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 90 4354 Google Scholar
Rabiee, AR & Lean, IJ 2013 The effect of internal teat sealant products (Teatseal and Orbeseal) on intramammary infection, clinical mastitis, and somatic cell counts in lactating dairy cows: a meta-analysis. Journal of Dairy Science 96 69156931 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robert, A, Roussel, P, Bareille, N, Ribaud, D, Sérieys, F, Heuchel, V& Seegers, H 2008 Risk factors for new intramammary infections during the dry period in untreated dairy cows from herds using selective dry cow therapy. Animal 2 247254 Google Scholar
Sanford, CJ, Keefe, GP, Sanchez, J, Dingwell, RT, Barkema, HW, Leslie, KE & Dohoo, IR 2006 Test characteristics from latent-class models of the California mastitis test. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 77 96108 Google Scholar
Sargeant, JM, Leslie, KE, Shirley, JE, Pulkrabek, BJ & Lim, GH 2001 Sensitivity and Specificity of Somatic Cell Count and California mastitis test for identifying intramammary infection in early lactation. Journal of Dairy Science 84 20182024 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Torres, AH, Rajala-Schultz, PL, DeGraves, FJ & Hoblet, KH 2008 Using dairy herd improvement records and clinical mastitis history to identify subclinical mastitis infections at dry-off. Journal of Dairy Research 75 240247 Google Scholar
Wallman, J 2014 Erfahrungen und Schlussfolgerungen aus der Antibiotikaabgabeerfassung in der Veterinärmedizin [Experiences and conclusions from the antibiotics discharge detection in veterinary medicine]. Berlin, Germany: Bundesamt für Verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit [Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety] Google Scholar
Zadoks, RN, Allore, HG, Barkema, HW, Sampimon, OC, Wellenberg, GJ, Gröhn, YT & Schukken, YH 2001 Cow- and quarter-level risk factors for Streptococcus uberis and Staphylococcus aureus mastitis. Journal of Dairy Science 84 26492663 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed