Bovine Mastitis - A Disease of Serious Concern for Dairy Farmers
Published:February 22, 2014
Summary
International Journal of Livestock Research ISSN 2277-1964 ONLINE www.ijlr.org- Vol 3(1) Jan’13 Abstract Mastitis is an inflammatory disease condition of udder affecting milk production negatively and having a serious impact on the economy of dairy enterprises. It is considered to be the most costly disease of dairy animals and losses mainly occur through discarded milk,...
Dear Henna Hamadani,
I am scared after reading your knowledgeable article I am from Pakistan & newly enter in dairy business with 50 cows holstein import from Australia now I want to know how to cure my cows with Mastitis Diseases ?
First of all I appreciate the good article by this group in which details have been illustrated precisely. However, I would like to request the author-group and Md Nadeem sahib to study our article on the " Pathobiology, etiology and novel treatment of mastitis in buffalo" which appeared in Engormix sometime earlier. For this article I would like to point out when the authors say in pathogenesis " Mastitis in dairy animals occur when udder becomes inflamed and bacteria invade the teat canal and the mammary gland. Here the crucial point is as to how the infectious agents establish on intact mucous membrane? In fact the initial lesion is a pre-requisit for the establishment of these organisms. Such a lesion indeed is provided by the 'Free' Ca2+ in the udder due to deficiency of Citrate. Citrate is the main buffering agent in the udder and ins deficiency everything working in concert go haywire and result in disastrous effects resulting in mastitis etc. Hence, correction of citrate deficiency in udder is very crucial to pevent or cure/treat mastitis to avoid the most devastating effects of this malady to make any dairy operation successful. This can be achieved by monitoring the pH and citrate content of milk from udder- read our above mentioned article for comprehension and utility in the field control of mastitis.
Dear All - Thanks for detailed discussions. Innovative treatments like managing citrate level within control by therapeutic measures like i/v use of tri sod citrate or oral use of this. Along with these measures we must look out for ruminal pH as mild decrease in pH at rumen depresses the immune support. Continuous managing both the target organs will reduce the incidences of mastitis.In my view preventing mastitis should be ultimate goal rather than treating. I have hardly seen the recovery in mastitis - means animal coming to pre sickness level of production. Symptoms do disappear but production remains low.
Healthy and frank opinions are solicited.
Regards,
Dr. ML Sharma
hi there
thank you for your comprehensive article about mastitis.as a person who works for a veterinary field i encountered a case of mastitis that does n`t respond to any treatment .a recently calved cow that was in a good condition is sick now with these signs:mild fever,inflamed udder with blemish color in a quarter,lameness at the affected side ,stopped eating,.a veterinarian prescribed dexamethasone,penicillin 5 m.and gentamicin after 2 days there is no any sign of improvement . please tell me what could it be ? thank you.
Hi Mostafa Pl see what is the condition of the secretions from the udder - watery, blood stained, flakes etc. Also note the pH of any secretions from the teat opening preferably with a graded pH paper. If it happens to be above 6.5 then it sure could be typical case of mastitis and can be treated with oral administration of thirty Gms of trisodium citrate in water once daily for three to four days. Pl ask for any information you may need in future.
regards Jasmer singh Ph D
hi dear Jasmer Singh pH d
the milk has some flakes in it and when i heated it became clogged.today the cow initiated to eat but lameness is continued. sorry i don`t have pH paper to measure the secretions .
best regards Mostafa Badri
Hi Mostafa, It appears to be a case of mastitis and the best treatment is to administer 30gms of tri-sodium citrate in half a glass of water orally, once daily for three to four days. I think the problem will also disappear with this medication or otherwise let me know and we shall discuss again. Any other problem pl do convey and I shall be rather pleased to be any help to you.
Jasmer
Hi doctor Jasmer
i continued the treatment with Penicillin and Gentamycin and also used some intra-mammary drugs. the result seems good ,the cow`s temperature is about normal range(38.8 c).it eats better than before .the milk color is normal.but inflammation of infected udder did not diminish .also lameness of hind limp has gone away.what is your suggestion about injecting calcium?
best wishes Mostafa
Dr. Jasmer: I had never read before on the value of sodium citrate treatment for matistis control. Sodium citrate is perhaps the only known known treatment (besides hydration and calcium intake control) for the prevention of renal stones in humans. A deficiency of blood citrate results in nucleation of calcium phospate and the formation of the stone. Sodium citrate raises urine pH and this apparently reduces the formation of stones. Originally doctors thought that acydifing urine through the ingestion of vitamin C or fruits (and juices) worked througha acidification. Now we know that this is not the case and that the positive effect was not due to acidifacation (on the contrary) but to the citrate content of the juices.) I have dairy cows and have never used this type of therapy, always using conventional antibiotic treatment. If the citrate theory is confirmed I consider this discovery and therapy as a myor breakthrough in the tretamente of mastitis. I wonder if the readers can share with us their experinece with this treatment. I am certainly considering using it. I wonder, for instance if just through milk pH monitoring one should initiate tretament "before" mastitis is evident? I would imagine that uddeer instillation is more efficent? In any case, if this treatmente efficacy is confirmed it is certainly very attractive from all perspective. Are there any peer revied articles on this topic? I find your article most intersting. Thank you
Hi Mostafa You might continue with all these antibiotics but as long as you will not ameliorate the CITRATE deficiency the cure will be incomplete. As far as pH recording is concerned please go to some high school or Science college and request for graded pH paper strips and you will get. Even otherwise you can get these papers from some shop dealing with chemicals for scientific purposes. They are very cheap and very reliable for this purpose. The pH will give you the true picture of the udder health as far as mastitis is concerned. With this you can initiate the treatment instantly.
Jasmer singh
Hi Sergeo, As you might know citrate is the harbinger of lactogenesis and maintains the lactation in almost all the mammals including humans (women). Citrate is wholly responsible for maintenance of pH in the mammary gland through equiliberating the H+ Ca2+ and preserves the fluidity of milk. Hence, in any aberration in the synthesis of citrate in the mammary gland will result in disastrous results like mastitis. The chronic mastitis shall give rise to malignancy in women which is marked as breast cancer! Therefore, pH and citrate in milk of mammals are the most crucial biomarkers for most of the ailments of mammary gland.
Jasmer Singh
Pardon my insistence Dr. Jasmer: would udderinstilaltion be more effective than drenching? it would seem that the rumen bioma would ver quickly metabolice citrate - i suppose (?) alowing for very Little for the animal as such. Am i wrong? if the installation route is viable ( and desirable)whta would be the dosage ? and aside from sterile physiological saline solution or destilled setrile wáter (?)is thera something else that could(should be addes to the preparation? Finbally : 1. What is the mecanism of action fo citrate on a tiisue or celular level? how does it "deprove" bacteria form insult? and lastly are tehr already commercaial prepartions approved for use? THANK YOU very much ( it sure seems i will have to gave back and read more recent literature on the topic. Any recommendations on this line?
We have excellent plant based cure for mastitis. Field tested in three states in India 95% sucessful if followed the course correctly. A research paper is being prepared & will be published shortly.
Hi Dr Bala,I would request you to please identify the 'Excellent plant based cure for mastitis ' in India,along with its basic ingredients which are active for its curative phenomena.
Jasmer singh Ph D
Hi Dr Sergio, I would request you to go through our full article Pathobiology, etiology and novel mastitis therapy in buffalo. You will find the exact cause and diagnosis of mastitis with its cardinal treatment. Moreover, as you have pointed out regarding monitoring of pH and citrate in milk/secretions from udder for being the most important discovery in control of mastitis, these have been unmasked in our above mentioned article. Any other information you may need please don't hesitate to ask.
hi there
is it OK to treat all cases of cattle mastitis according to their milk pH?if so,please tell a little more about other options.i just wrote this to start a new discussion.thank you
Hi Dr Mustafa, As pH of udder milk is very crucial and pivotal to maintain normal health, hence, its monitoring could be the most important 'Biomarker' for mastitis which can be depended upon reliably for initiating the treatment instantly. However, the estimation of citrate in milk could be a boon for effectively and economically controlling mastitis at the dairy farm operations. You are welcome for initiating any discussion on mastitis.
Jasmer Singh Ph D
Hi Dr Jasmer Singh
i want to thank you for your nice advice for treating mastitis cases in cattle.today i bought a pH paper and i also found somewhere to buy tri sodium citrate .as you mentioned mastitis cases can be treated with this chemical.so far i have not used this method but i want to report what happens to the cattle .thanks a millions . Mostafa Badri
Hi Dr Mustafa, It is nice to be in contact with you. As you are contemplating to undertake this treatment for your dairy animals affected with mastitis, it has provoked my interest too in this study. we have successfully treated thousands of dairy animals suffering from mastitis and also used this chemical for prevention of mastitis on several dairy farms.I hope your interest and sharing your results with me and we shall start some more interesting studies.
Jasmer Singh Ph D