Mastitis is the most costly health concern
in the dairy industry today. Annual losses
have been estimated at $180 to 185 per cow.
Based on this figure, annual losses for Kansas
producers may exceed $15 million.
Nationally, mastitis may cost the industry
$1.8 billion annually. Although treatment
and premature culling for clinical mastitis
are costly, about two-thirds of the cost is
associated with reduced milk production
caused by subclinical mastitis. Effective
mastitis control programs are necessary for
the dairy industry today. Prevention of
subclinical mastitis is the key to lowering the
somatic cell counts (SCC). Elevated bulk
tank SCC (>250,000/ml) are an indication
that a significant number of the cattle are
infected with mastitis-causing bacteria and
corrective action is required. Key areas to
evaluate are cow housing, milking equipment,
and milking procedures. Utilization of
milk culture data is necessary to determine
if elevated SCC are due to environmental
or contagious organisms. In addition, cultures
of milk samples from individual
cows may be needed to identify cattle infected
with contagious organisms. Correction
of deficiencies in housing, milking
procedures, and milking equipment will
effectively control environmental mastitis.
Identification, segregation, and future culling
of animals infected with contagious
organisms are necessary for control of contagious
mastitis. An effective monitoring
system that includes individual-cow SCC,
individual-cow bacterial cultures, and bulktank
bacterial cultures will ensure a low
bulk-tank SCC and a low level of mastitis.
It is a health issue that requires constant
attention, because success is achieved with
attention to detail on the dairy as a whole,
and lack of attention in only one segment of
the dairy may result in significant increases
in mastitis. Success of the program requires
that all employees and the management team
(managers, herdsmen, veterinarians, nutritionists,
milking equipment technicians, and
consultants) emphasize increasing milk
quality by controlling mastitis.
