Abstract
A cross sectional study was conducted from November, 2011 to April, 2012 in Adigrat, Ethiopia, with the objective of assessing the prevalence of bovine mastitis, the risk factors associated with the disease and identifying the bacteria responsible for the disease. A total of 322 cows were selected from 10 small holder dairy farms using simple random sampling method. California Mastitis Test (CMT), clinical examination of udder and teats and bacteriological examination were employed. The overall prevalence of mastitis at a cow level was 64.3% (207/322), from which 15 (31/322) and 85% (176/322) were clinical and subclinical, respectively. The quarter level prevalence of the disease was also 54% (696/1288) from which 20.5 (264/1288) and 33.5% (432/1288) were clinical and subclinical form, respectively. As compared to the others, the right hind quarters were affected with the highest infection rate (63.9%). The left hind quarters were the second with an infection rate of 59.3% followed by right front quarters (52.5%) and left front quarters (40.4%). Among the bacterial causes of bovine mastitis in the study area, Staphylococcus aureus, Echerichia coli and Streptococcus agalactiae were the major isolates with percentages of 51.7, 20.9 and 20.3, respectively. All the potential risk factors considered in this study namely, parity, age, stage of lactation and breed showed significant effects on prevalence of mastitis in the present study. The present study concludes that mastitis was a major health problem of dairy cows in the area. Hence, strategic control measures against the disease and regular surveillance measures are recommended. Key words: Prevalence, bovine mastitis, risk factors, bacteria, Adigrat, Ethiopia.
Highlights
Ethiopia has the largest livestock population in Africa
A cross sectional study was conducted from November, 2011 to April, 2012 in Adigrat, Ethiopia, with the objective of assessing the prevalence of bovine mastitis, the risk factors associated with the disease and identifying the bacteria responsible for the disease
A total of 322 lactating cows were examined for presence of mastitis out of which 207 (64.3%) cows were found to be affected with clinical and subclinical mastitis based on clinical and California Mastitis Test (CMT) diagnosis
Summary
Cows represent the largest population of cattle production of the country (CSA, 2007). Mastitis is an inflammation of the mammary gland and commonly associated with intra-mammary bacterial infection. It is considered as the most important disease among diseases of the dairy having zoonotic and economic impact (Omore et al, 1996; Al-Majali et al., 2008). Bovine mastitis can be clinical with local (in some cases general) clinical signs and milk abnormalities or sub clinical with production losses and lowered milk quality. Clinical signs vary with the severity of the disease and generally include pain, heat and swelling of the affected quarter or half of the gland and abnormality of the milk either as clots or flakes and wateriness of the liquid phase (Radostits et al, 2000)
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