By Susan Wanjiru
A few years ago, I met a dairy farmer in Uasin Gishu, whose cow would suffer nasty bouts of mastitis quite often. The infections would always start from the same teat and spread to her other teats. Eventually, the vet advised the farmer that he would sterilize the cow’s udder. The farmer proceeded to fatten her and later sold her for slaughter.
Though the disease affects both sexes in all animals’ (yes, males can also get mastitis), its economic significance is felt in the dairy industry.
Despite research on the causes, treatment, and control of mastitis, it remains the most common disease ravaging the dairy sector.
Mastitis affects the best producers in a herd and hits them at a time when they are producing the most milk. It results in reduced milk production and is expensive to treat.
Causes of Mastitis
Bacteria from diverse families are the main causative agents of mastitis. However, fungal mastitis can also occur. The microorganisms enter the udder through the teats from the environment or during milking. Once in the udder, they produce toxins that affect the udder tissues and the cells that produce milk, causing changes in the milk. In some cases, it manifests itself as part of a systemic infection within the body of the animal.
Poor milking techniques can injure the teat and increase the chances of the disease developing.
The chances of mastitis occurring increase with the change in seasons (more common in rainy seasons), breed of animal (some animals are more predisposed), and stage of lactation (occurs more during periods of high production).
Signs of mastitis
Mastitis can be subclinical or clinical.
With subclinical mastitis, there are no signs of the disease in the animal. It is only evident from the abnormal milk produced by the affected quarter of the udder.
It can spread gradually undetected and adversely affect the farm. Animals with this type of mastitis act as carriers of the bacteria.
Clinical mastitis
The disease can progress to be clinical or chronic (when over two months). Infected animals will have a painful swollen udder or redness that is visible to the naked eye.
The milk also changes in colour and may have clots. In some cases, they may develop a fever and stop feeding. Lastly, animals with chronic mastitis can suffer from prolonged infection periods that make the affected quarter hard and inconsistent.
Treatment and Control
- Engage a qualified vet to examine your animals.
- Where possible, milk samples should be taken to the laboratory for culture and sensitivity tests to determine the most effective drug to treat the condition.
- Farmers should avoid purchasing intramammary tubes and self-treating their animals. Improper treatment can cause resistance by microorganisms which can compound the situation making treatments ineffective.
Preventing Mastitis
You should always maintain high levels of hygiene and ensure that milking equipment and surroundings are kept clean and regularly disinfected. The following practices will help control mastitis:
- Dip teats in an antiseptic solution before and after milking.
- Properly clean and maintain your milking equipment.
- Keenly observing your animals helps you detect the disease early and start treatment before it’s too late.
- A cow can get mastitis when a farmer is drying up his cow before she calves down. To avoid this, a farmer should consult a vet to ensure that the process is carried out correctly.
- Cull or selectively slaughter chronically infected animals.
Susan Wanjiru is an agricultural journalist. Email: susannjugi75@gmail.com