Australia - Seal of approval for mastitis treatment: Pfizer

High cell counts from mastitis are a very real threat to dairy farm profits. This is especially so with factories offering differential pricing based on the quality of the milk supplied. A cornerstone of mastitis control is an effective dry cow treatment program to cure existing udder infections and prevent the occurrence of new infections. Many farmers have a blanket dry-cow program where every quarter of every cow is treated with a dry cow antibiotic at dry off, regardless of infection status. Others prefer a selective program, where infected high cell count cows are treated with antibiotics, while uninfected low-cell count cows are not treated and are therefore unprotected during the dry period. The untreated cows are relying on natural defence mechanisms, including the formation of the keratin plug soon after drying off, to prevent new infections during the dry period. The plug closes the teat making it less susceptible to new infections. The problem is that many cows teats may not form the keratin plug for several weeks after dry off, and some never do. Rochester dairy farmer, John Gibney, says Teatseal - a non-antibiotic dry cow treatment that is infused into the teat at the last milking before dry off - is an effective treatment to prevent mastitis. Teatseal, from Pfizer Australia Animal Health, is the only non-antibiotic dry cow treatment on the market. Mr Gibney says Teatseal provides a physical barrier to pathogens immediately on insertion and protected the udder throughout the dry period. "Most importantly, the product has no residues and after dry-off, it makes the transition back to milking easier," he said. "Obviously, antibiotics are not the best option to use on all my dry cows because of the risk of residues, but the alternative was a sick cow with low milk production."