Evaluation of Surf Field Mastitis Test (SFMT) For the Detection of Subclinical Mastitis in Dairy Cows

Abstract

Background: Subclinical mastitis (SCM) continues to be one of the major economic diseases of dairy animal. For effective management of SCM prompt early detection is required at the field level. Present study deals with evaluation of Surf Field Mastitis Test (SFMT) - the cow side, on-farm and field level SCM detection test and its comparison with established tests. Methods: Holstein Friesian and Jersey crossbred dairy cows quarter milk (n=72) were tested for SCM using California Mastitis Test (CMT) and somatic cell count (SCC). Result: In comparison, CMT showed higher inclusivity and negative predictivity; while, SFMT had higher exclusivity and positive predictivity. Nevertheless, both CMT and SFMT tests performed equally in the detection of SCM as measured by analytical accuracy (84.72%). In comparison to the SCC, both CMT and SFMT showed strong concordance (kappa value of 0.7 agreements each). However, between CMT and SFMT moderate agreement was observed (kappa value 0.58). Further, in comparison to SCC, SFMT showed higher diagnostic sensitivity of 94.74% than the CMT 73.68%; specificity of CMT was higher (97.06%) than the SFMT (73.53%). Results of the present study indicated practical applications of SFMT for the detection of SCM owing to accessibility and ease of doing SFMT and its diagnostic capabilities in comparison to the widely accepted CMT. Keeping in view, the economic significance of SCM among crossbred dairy cows and need for its early diagnosis at the field level; findings of this study recommend popularization of SFMT among dairy farmers so as to control SCM in time and avoid associated economic losses to the dairy farmers.