Dairy farmers can change: results of a five-year national mastitis control program in The Netherlands

Over the years, much effort has been put into mastitis control programs. To further improve such programs, we need to understand farmers’ knowledge, attitude and behavior regarding udder health, and the way this can be influenced by mastitis control programs. This study aimed to explore the effect of a Dutch national mastitis control program on farmers’ knowledge, attitude and behavior regarding mastitis. In this study, 204 randomly selected dairy farmers completed a survey on attitude, knowledge and behavior regarding mastitis before the start of the national mastitis control program (2004) and in the final year of the program (2009). Statistical analyses show that, compared to 2004, the attitude, knowledge and behavior of the participating farmers changed significantly. Farmers’ satisfaction level and problem level of BMSCC changed; farmers were satisfied with on average 156,000 cells/ml in 2004 compared to 150,000 cells/ml in 2009, and perceived a problem at 285,000 cells/ml in 2004 compared to 271,000 cells/ml in 2009. More farmers perceived that they had sufficient knowledge about the control of mastitis (34% in 2004 vs. 53% in 2009), and they focused more often on udder health characteristics when selecting bulls (46% vs. 61%). Specific mastitis control measures have increased significantly during the program. The use of milking gloves increased from 15% to 46%, the use of a standardized mastitis treatment protocol increased from 7% to 34% and cubicles are cleaned more often (2.28 vs. 2.51 times/day)

Farmers’ reaction upon receiving economic information in controlling somatic cell count

Adoption and implementation of efficient somatic cell count (SCC) control practices is an action of behavioral change, which is notoriously difficult to achieve and sustain, even when substantial production and economic gains are to be expected. In the current study, it was tested whether farmers are aware of these potential gains and whether providing farmers additional information on projected economic losses on a regular basis may motivate them to implement enhanced control practices. In-depth interviews revealed that the majority of the dairy farmers perceived cow-specific and herd-specific projected losses, due to elevated SCC levels, as not very relevant to them. Farmers posed that SCC was already monitored regularly at cow-level and provided them adequate information to support decision making. Actions were rationalized in a specific context comprising the intertwined notions of intentions and efficacy believes. Understanding of these notions is essential when advising farmers, being either veterinarians or others providing agricultural extension, to support farmers implementing enhanced management decisions

Directions for national mastitis control programs: experiences from The Netherlands

The general aim of mastitis control programs is to improve udder health on dairy farms. Over the last five years an intensive national mastitis program was executed in the Netherlands with the goal to improve udder health at a national level. Different groups of farmers have different motivations and should be approached differently, and their behaviour is influenced by different advisors. Therefore, as many different groups of advisors as possible should be involved in the program. Most of the veterinary practices in the Netherlands participated as did, in later years, other farm advisors. We experienced that for a successful program it is crucial to have knowledge on motivating factors of dairy farmers. Many advisors are convinced that the only way to change farmers’ behavior is through economics. We found that economics are important, but that other factors are as important in influencing farmers’ behaviour. To have a successful national mastitis program it is advisable to involve professionals on communication in designing the program. Although the technical knowledge on which the program is built should be optimal, that generally is not the bottle-neck in being successful. There often is more to gain in presenting knowledge in such a way that it is actually used, than in increasing the amount of existing knowledge

Estimating the proportion of clinical mastitis attributable to subclinical mastitis in dairy cattle using two multivariable statistical approaches

The aim of this study was to quantify the proportion of first bovine CM cases attributable to high composite somatic cell counts (CSCC). Cows were followed from the first CSCC measurement postpartum until CM or censoring, using survival analysis. A conditional logistic regression model was also fitted to the data with CM cows being matched to cows without CM. Both models identified high CSCC cows to have a higher risk for subsequent CM cases than low CSCC cows. The population attributable fraction was 0.22 for primiparae and 0.17 for multiparae according to the logistic regression model, while it was 0.25 in the survival analysis. The latter approach also identified that the proportion of cows without CM would increase from 89% to 93%. Both multivariable statistical approaches showed that a substantial reduction in CM can be achieved by decreasing the prevalence of high CSCC in the dairy population

Betrouwbaar naar gezonde uiers: ontrafelen celgetalgegevens levert uiergezondheidsindex met 85 procent betrouwbaarheid

Fokken op uiergezondheid kan betrouwbaarder, zo luidt de conclusie van nieuw onderzoek. Door de celgetalgegevens dieper te analyseren ontstaat een index met 85 % betrouwbaarheid, vergelijkbaar met fokwaarden in de zo geroemde Scandinavische landen. Stieren zullen op z'n vroegst in april 2009 een vernieuwde fokwaarde krijge

Effect of extended cefquinome treatment on clinical persistence or recurrence of environmental clinical mastitis

The effectiveness of antibiotic treatment of clinical mastitis (CM) is classically evaluated using bacteriological cure, which provides a concise and objective way of assessing efficacy but does not reflect the situation in the field where persistence or recurrence of clinical signs lead to perceived treatment failure. If clinical signs persist or recur, intramammary (IMM) treatment is often extended or supplemented with parenteral therapy in the expectation of a more efficient elimination of clinical signs or a lower probability of recurrence. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy against clinical persistence or recurrence of three cefquinome treatment regimes, standard 1.5-day intramammary (SIMM), 5-day extended intramammary (EIMM) and combination of EIMM plus 5-day extended parenteral (ECOMBO) treatment. The study was conducted on three dairy farms with a high recurrence rate of environmental mastitis. Efficacy was evaluated using a multi-level model at the quarter and at the cow level, based on the persistence or recurrence of clinical signs at any time during a 105-day period following the end of the initial treatment, independent of pathogen. The most prevalent pathogens were E. coli (16.9%) and S. uberis (11.97%). EIMM and ECOMBO significantly decreased the persistence or recurrence of CM by 8% and 6% at the quarter level and by 9% and 8% at the cow level, respectively. ECOMBO may not reduce the persistence or recurrence of CM beyond EIMM. Whilst extended treatment regimens offered an improved outcome in this study, the producer and practitioner need to carefully consider such regimens from the perspective of prudent antibiotic use

Palliativ care in nursing home - Health professionals experience

Bovine mastitis is a costly disease to the dairy industry and intramammary infections (IMI) with Staphylococcus aureus are a major cause of mastitis. Staphylococcus aureus strains responsible for mastitis in cattle predominantly belong to ruminant-associated clonal complexes (CCs). Recognition of pathogens by bovine mammary epithelial cells (bMEC) plays a key role in activation of immune responsiveness during IMI. However, it is still largely unknown to what extent the bMEC response differs according to S. aureus CC. The aim of this study was to determine whether ruminant-associated S. aureus CCs differentially activate bMEC. For this purpose, the immortalized bMEC line PS was stimulated with S. aureus mastitis isolates belonging to four different clonal complexes (CCs; CC133, CC479, CC151 and CC425) and interleukin 8 (IL-8) release was measured as indicator of activation. To validate our bMEC model, we first stimulated PS cells with genetically modified S. aureus strains lacking (protein A, wall teichoic acid (WTA) synthesis) or expressing (capsular polysaccharide (CP) type 5 or type 8) factors expected to affect S. aureus recognition by bMEC. The absence of functional WTA synthesis increased IL-8 release by bMEC in response to bacterial stimulation compared to wildtype. In addition, bMEC released more IL-8 after stimulation with S. aureus expressing CP type 5 compared to CP type 8 or a strain lacking CP expression. Among the S. aureus lineages, isolates belonging to CC133 induced a significantly stronger IL-8 release from bMEC than isolates from the other CCs, and the IL-8 response to CC479 was higher compared to CC151 and CC425. Transcription levels of IL-8, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), serum amyloid A3 (SAA3), Toll-like receptor (TLR)-2 and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) in bMEC after bacterial stimulation tended to follow a similar pattern as IL-8 release, but there were no significant differences between the CCs. This study demonstrates a differential activation of bMEC by ruminant-associated CCs of S. aureus, which may have implications for the severity of mastitis during IMI by S. aureus belonging to these lineages