Zur Eutergesundheit in der Trockenperiode in ökologisch wirtschaftenden Milchviehbetrieben

As a part of the study „Health and performance of dairy cows in organic farming from an interdisciplinary point of view – an (intervention-) study on metabolic disorders and mastitis with regard to forage production, feeding management and husbandry practices” quarter milk samples from cows at dry off and after calving were taken by farmers in 86 dairy farms in Germany between January and July 2008. The objective of this study was to evaluate mastitis prevalence at dry off and at calving and the evaluation of different therapeutic regimes at dry off. 681 cows from 86 dairy farms were examined. Mastitis prevalence at dry off was comparable to conventional farms. At calving organic farms have high mastitis prevalence due to a low cure rate and a high new infection rate in the dry period. The non-use of dry cow antibiotics or teat sealers result in significantly lower cure rates on quarter level (29.4% vs. 37.4%) and higher new infection rates (34.1% vs. 39.5%). The results show, that dry period is a high-risk period for udder health in organic dairy farms. Improvements of the hygienic conditions, the immune defence and the therapeutic regimes offer high potentials for improvement of udder health

Zum Vorkommen von Staphylokokken mit Methicillin-/ Oxacillinresistenz auf Nasenschleimhäuten, Handflächen melkender Personen und in Rohmilch in ökologischen Milchviehbetrieben

The aim of this pilot prevalence study was to investigate the Oxacillin resistance of 73 Staphylococcus (S.) strains from 29 organic dairy farms in Lower Saxony. The strains were isolated from nasal mucosa and hand skin of milkers, herd bulk milk and mastitis milk samples. After strain identification, the Oxacillin resistance was measured by Etest. 23 strains were identified as S. aureus, four as S. hyicus, 15 as S. xylosus and 31 as other coagulase negative staphylococci. Because of their minimum inhibition concentration (mic) between 0.5 and 1 mg/mL four S. aureus isolates were assigned to borderline Oxacillin resistant S. aureus. Nine coagulase negative isolates had this property too. In total 19 staphylococci isolates had a mic > 1 mg/L and were classified as Oxacillin resistant according to DIN 58940-4 Bbl 1:2004-02. Three of the resistant four S. aureus strains were isolated from nasal mucosa and one from hand skin. To confirm the results the Oxacillin resistance status need to be analysed in a greater number of organic farms

Comparison of an evidence-based and a conventional mastitis therapy concept with regard to cure rates and antibiotic usage

In milk production, mastitis therapy accounts for the largest proportion of antibiotic use. Numerous studies have suggested that with a differentiated therapy based on mastitis causing pathogens and animal individual variables (regarding the number of lactation, somatic cell count (SCC) and the number of pre-treatments) the amount of antibiotics could be significantly lowered.The aim of this study was to investigate whether the establishment of an evidence-based mastitis therapy (EBMT) concept could reduce the amount of applied antibiotics compared to a conventional therapeutic (CT) approach with similar curing success. In the EBMT concept the therapy is tailored - with the additional help of on farm culture in the form of PetrifilmsTM - to the pathogen and to the patient and includes the latest scientific knowledge. In the CT approach the therapy is onlytailored to the patient. The decision concerning therapy depends basically on the knowledge of the therapist and the severity of mastitis symptoms.To this end, from February until December 2012 all of the approximately 950 cows on a conventional dairy farm in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, with clinical mastitis cases were assigned to an EBMT- (n = 236 cows) and a CT-group (n = 230 cows) based on the ear tag number and treated accordingly. Subsequently, the results of the two treatment groups were evaluated with respect to the clinical cure (CC), the bacteriological cure (BC), the full cure (FC), the relapse and culling rate and the amount of local and parenteral antibiotics used. Furthermore, the mean costs per clinical mastitis case of these two therapeutic concepts were compared.There was a significantly higher CC in the EBMT- versus the CT-group with simultaneous significant reduction in the local antibiotic doses without negative influence on the BC, FC, relapse and culling in the EBMT-group. Also, the mean costs per clinical mastitis case were significantly lower in the EBMT-group.This pilot study showed that by implementing on farm culture the use of an EBMT concept significantly reduces the use of local antibiotics in mastitis therapy without having any negative significant changes in the therapy outcome or economic aspects

Entwicklung der Eutergesundheit im Zeitraum der Trockenperiode in ökologisch wirtschaftenden Milchviehbetrieben

As a part of the study „Health and performance of dairy cows in organic farming from an interdisciplinary point of view – an (intervention-) study on metabolic disorders and mastitis with regard to forage production, feeding management and husbandry practices” quarter milk samples from cows at dry off and after calving were taken by farmers in 101 dairy farms in Germany between January 2008 and April 2010. The objective of this study was to evaluate mastitis prevalence at dry off and at calving and the evaluation of different therapeutic regimes at dry off. 3460 cows from 101 dairy farms were examined. Mastitis prevalence at dry off was comparable to conventional farms. At calving organic farms have high mastitis prevalence due to a low cure rate and a high new infection rate in the dry period. The non-use of dry cow antibiotics or teat sealers result in significantly lower cure rates on quarter level (28.7% vs. 33,2%) and higher new infection rates (29.7% vs. 26.4%). The results show, that dry period is a high-risk period for udder health in organic dairy farms. Improvements of the hygienic conditions, the immune defence and the therapeutic regimes offer high potentials for improvement of udder health

Stoffwechselbelastungen zu Laktationsbeginn und ihr Einfluss auf die Eutergesundheit in ökologisch wirtschaftenden Milchviehbetrieben

As a part of the study „Health and performance of dairy cows in organic farming from an interdisciplinary point of view – an (intervention-) study on metabolic disorders and mastitis with regard to forage production, feeding management and husbandry practices” different udder health and metabolic parameters were determined in 106 dairy farms in Germany between January 2008 and April 2010. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare udder health and metabolic data in dry period and early lactation within the scope of a preliminary analysis. The analysis shows that relations exist between disturbances of the metabolism health and the udder health. Significant correlations between ketosis and hypocalcämia and udder health make clear that their control is vital for animal health management in organic dairy farms

Risiken und Chancen der Stoffwechsel- und Eutergesundheit im Zeitraum der Trockenperiode und der Frühlaktation in ökologisch wirtschaftenden Milchviehbetrieben

As a part of the study 'Health and performance of dairy cows in organic farming from an interdisciplinary point of view 13 an (intervention-) study on metabolic disorders and mastitis with regard to forage production, feeding management and husbandry practices' different udder health and metabolic variables were determined in 106 dairy farms in Germany between January 2008 and April 2010. The objective of this study was to evaluate udder health risks and metabolic risks in dry period and early lactation. Udder health and metabolic situation were similar to conventional dairy farms. Identified risks for metabolic health and udder health lay in the feeding area (homogenous feeding without a huge variation in body condition in lactation and dry period) and in the dry period therapy

Thyroid Hormone T3 Counteracts STZ Induced Diabetes in Mouse

This study intended to demonstrate that the thyroid hormone T3 counteracts the onset of a Streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetes in wild type mice. To test our hypothesis diabetes has been induced in Balb/c male mice by multiple low dose Streptozotocin injection; and a group of mice was contemporaneously injected with T3. After 48 h mice were tested for glucose tolerance test, insulin serum levels and then sacrified. Whole pancreata were utilized for morphological and biochemical analyses, while protein extracts and RNA were utilized for expression analyses of specific molecules. The results showed that islets from T3 treated mice were comparable to age- and sex-matched control, untreated mice in number, shape, dimension, consistency, ultrastructure, insulin and glucagon levels, Tunel positivity and caspases activation, while all the cited parameters and molecules were altered by STZ alone. The T3-induced pro survival effect was associated with a strong increase in phosphorylated Akt. Moreover, T3 administration prevented the STZ-dependent alterations in glucose blood level, both during fasting and after glucose challenge, as well as in insulin serum level. In conclusion we demonstrated that T3 could act as a protective factor against STZ induced diabetes