Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange
Abstract
The problem of mastitis in dairy animals has received much attention in recent years. As the business of dairying has developed and grown, mastitis has become more significant to the farmer and the processor. The economic loss from reduced production and sale of milk, loss of breeding animals, veterinary and medical fees is paramount. Much of the emphasis when dealing with mastitis has been on cure rather than prevention. Despite the extensive investigations of antibiotics and other chemo-therapeutic agents as a cure for mastitis, a completely satisfactory answer to the mastitis problem has not been found. Recent research has suggested that the mammary gland is capable of producing large amount of antibodies when a foreign protein is introduced into the udder. Since antibody production of the udder has been demonstrated, there is reason to suspect that the udder of the cow might be injected with an antigen and produce an immunity to bacterial invasion. Thus this investigation deals with an attempt to immunize cow’s udders with Streptococcus dysgalactiae and Escherichia coli