Abstract
Treatment of mastitis should be based on bacteriological diagnosis and take national and international guidelines on prudent use of antimicrobials into account. In acute mastitis, where bacteriological diagnosis is not available, treatment should be initiated based on herd data and personal experience. Rapid bacteriological diagnosis would facilitate the proper selection of the antimicrobial. Treating subclinical mastitis with antimicrobials during lactation is seldom economical, because of high treatment costs and generally poor efficacy. All mastitis treatment should be evidence-based, i.e., the efficacy of each product and treatment length should be demonstrated by scientific studies. Use of on-farm written protocols for mastitis treatment promotes a judicious use of antimicrobials and reduces the use of antimicrobials.
Highlights
Intramammary infection is the most common reason for the use of antimicrobials in dairy cows (Mitchell et al 1998; Grave et al 1999)
The bovine mammary gland is a difficult target for antimicrobial treatment
The general benefit of antimicrobial treatment in coliform mastitis has been questioned (Jones et al 1990; Pyörälä et al 1994a), but systemic antimicrobial treatment is recommended in cases of severe Escherichia coli mastitis with heavy bacterial growth in the udder
Summary
Intramammary infection (mastitis) is the most common reason for the use of antimicrobials in dairy cows (Mitchell et al 1998; Grave et al 1999). Antimicrobials have been used to treat mastitis for more than fifty years, but consensus about the most efficient, safe, and economical treatment is still lacking. The concept of evidence-based medicine has been introduced to veterinary medicine (Cockcroft and Holmes 2003) and should apply to treatment of mastitis. The impact on public health should be taken into account as dairy cows produce milk for consumption (OIE 2008). The aim of this article is to review current treatments of mastitis during lactation and seek for evidence-based, best practice treatment recommendations for bovine mastitis
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