TY - JOUR

T1 - Herd-related risk factors associated with the severity of clinical mastitis and the incidence of severe mastitis in German dairy herds

AU - Fredebeul-Krein, Frederik

AU - Klocke, Doris

AU - Leimbach, Stefanie

AU - Nitz, Julia

AU - Preine, Franziska

AU - Wente, Nicole

AU - Zhang, Yanchao

AU - Krömker, Volker

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Severe mastitis can result in a range of serious general health compli-cations for the infected dairy cow, including septicemia, which can ulti-mately lead to death. This cross-sectional study aimed firstly to identifythe herd-level risk factors associated with severe clinical mastitis (CM)in the diseased dairy cow. The second aim was to investigate herd-relat-ed factors associated with the incidence of severe mastitis in the dairyherd. The study was conducted on dairy farms (n = 58) in NorthwesternGermany. In addition to data from dairy herd improvement (DHI) tests,possible herd-related predictors were collected on dairy farms. Themost frequently isolated pathogens among all CM cases in this studywere coliform bacteria (32.6 %), followed by Streptococcus (Str.) uberis(17.2 %). Mastitis cases in clean dairy herds (in > 80.0 % of the exam-ined udders ≤ 10.0 % of the udder surface was soiled), in dairy herdswith > two milkings per cow and day, and in herds with a new infectionrisk (NIR) during the dry period ≤ 28.0 % in the last DHI test prior to CMwere identified as herd-related factors associated with more severeCM in the diseased dairy cow. The group of causative pathogens inmastitis cases was another risk factor positively associated with severeCM in the diseased dairy cow. Mastitis caused by coliform pathogenswas more likely to be severe than mastitis caused by other pathogens.The mean incidence for severe mastitis in this study was 4.1 severecases per 100 cow years at risk. The herd milk protein content basedon the average of all DHI tests was significantly associated with theincidence of severe mastitis, such that dairy herds with a lower herdmilk protein content < 3.4 % were associated with a higher incidenceof severe mastitis.

AB - Severe mastitis can result in a range of serious general health compli-cations for the infected dairy cow, including septicemia, which can ulti-mately lead to death. This cross-sectional study aimed firstly to identifythe herd-level risk factors associated with severe clinical mastitis (CM)in the diseased dairy cow. The second aim was to investigate herd-relat-ed factors associated with the incidence of severe mastitis in the dairyherd. The study was conducted on dairy farms (n = 58) in NorthwesternGermany. In addition to data from dairy herd improvement (DHI) tests,possible herd-related predictors were collected on dairy farms. Themost frequently isolated pathogens among all CM cases in this studywere coliform bacteria (32.6 %), followed by Streptococcus (Str.) uberis(17.2 %). Mastitis cases in clean dairy herds (in > 80.0 % of the exam-ined udders ≤ 10.0 % of the udder surface was soiled), in dairy herdswith > two milkings per cow and day, and in herds with a new infectionrisk (NIR) during the dry period ≤ 28.0 % in the last DHI test prior to CMwere identified as herd-related factors associated with more severeCM in the diseased dairy cow. The group of causative pathogens inmastitis cases was another risk factor positively associated with severeCM in the diseased dairy cow. Mastitis caused by coliform pathogenswas more likely to be severe than mastitis caused by other pathogens.The mean incidence for severe mastitis in this study was 4.1 severecases per 100 cow years at risk. The herd milk protein content basedon the average of all DHI tests was significantly associated with theincidence of severe mastitis, such that dairy herds with a lower herdmilk protein content < 3.4 % were associated with a higher incidenceof severe mastitis.

U2 - 10.48435/MSI.2023.7

DO - 10.48435/MSI.2023.7

M3 - Journal article

VL - 76

SP - 45

EP - 56

JO - Milk Science International - Milchwissenschaft

JF - Milk Science International - Milchwissenschaft

SN - 2567-9538

IS - 7

ER -