Early Detection Of Mastitis Research Articles

Interleukin-6 as a Milk Marker of Clinical and Subclinical Intramammary Infections (IMI) in Cows Caused by Streptococcus spp.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the concentrations of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) in milk and serum of healthy cows (HE) and cows with mastitis caused by Streptococcus spp. The blood and milk samples were obtained from Holstein-Friesian cows (Lublin region, Poland). A total of 43 milk and serum samples from 28 cows with mastitis and 15 healthy cows were selected for study. IL-6 levels in milk from HE cows ranged from 6.09-80.24 pg/mL (median 26.6 pg/mL) and were significantly lower than in milk from both cows with clinical and subclinical mastitis (487.09 pg/mL vs. 26.6 pg/mL in CM, p < 0.001; and 165.31 pg/mL vs. 26.6 pg/mL in SCM, p < 0.001). The IL-6 concentration in the serum of HE was not significantly different from the serum IL-6 of the entire group of mastitis cows, regardless of whether the inflammation proceeded in a clinical or subclinical form (44.37 pg/mL vs. 78.09 pg/mL; 128.29 pg/mL vs. 78.09 pg/mL, respectively). The present study indicates that cows with mastitis caused by Streptococcus spp. develop a local immune response in the mammary gland in response to the pathogen. Monitoring of IL-6 levels in milk can allow early detection of mastitis, which is especially important in cases of subclinical inflammation.

Short-milking-tube thermograms: An alternative to udder thermograms for mastitis detection in Sahiwal cows

Mastitis is a multi-etiological production disease that causes substantial financial loss to dairy farmers. In this context, early detection of mastitis using thermograms can aid the dairy sector in managing mastitis efficiently, and this technology could be a supportive tool in precision dairy farming. Infrared cameras can detect minor temperature changes on the udder surface by taking multiple images of the udder and teat. In the current study, a thermogram of the short milking tube (SMT) of the milking machine, as well as the udder and teat of lactating Sahiwal cow (n = 100 quarters of 25 Sahiwal cows), was captured using a hand-held digital infrared thermal camera (DarviDTL007) during morning milking to assess the mastitis status. CMT and SCC of milk samples were carried out for further confirmatory diagnosis of healthy, sub-clinical (SCM), and clinical mastitis (CM). Cut-offs for short milking tube temperature were developed using the receiver operating characteristics analysis. Results of thermal image analysis revealed that the pre-milking, milking, and post-milking parameters of the udder and the teat skin surface temperatures showed a significant difference in the healthy, SCM, and CM-affected quarters. The thermogram analysis showed a significant increase (p < 0.05) of 1.11 and 2.04°C in the mean values of SMT surface temperature among SCM and CM quarters compared to healthy quarters, respectively. In addition, the values of CMT and SCC revealed a significant increase (p < 0.05) in SCM and CM samples and a positive correlation to SMT surface temperatures. Short milking tube thermograms can be a useful assessment tool for detecting sub-clinical mastitis in dairy animals.

Early detection of mastitis in cows using the system based on 3D motions detectors

Mastitis is one of the major health problems in dairy herds leading to a reduction in the leading to a reduction in the quality of milk and economic losses. The research aimed to present the system, which uses electronic 3D motion detectors to detect the early symptoms of mastitis. The system would allow more effective prevention of this illness. The experiment was carried out on 118 cows (64 Holstein Friesian and 54 Brown Swiss). The animals were kept in free-stall barn with access to pasture. The occurrence of mastitis cases was noticed in veterinary register. Microbiological culture was taken from milk in order to confirm the development of infection. Data from motion detectors were defined as time spent by animals on feed intake, ruminating, physical activity and rest, and were expanded by adding information about feeding group, breed type and lactation number. During analyses, two approaches were used to process the same dataset: artificial neural networks (ANN) and logistic regression. The obtained ANN and the logistic regression models proved to be satisfactory from the perspective of applied criteria of goodness of fit (area under curve-exceed 0.8). Quality parameters (accuracy, sensitivity and specifity) of logistic regression are relatively high (larger than 0.73), whereas the ranks of significance of the studied variables varied across datasets. These proposed models can be useful for automating the detection of mastitis once integrated into the farm's IT system.

The Indicators of Clinical and Subclinical Mastitis in Equine Milk.

Simple SummaryMastitis, the inflammation of the mammary gland, is a major problem in a mare’s perinatal period, negatively affecting both the health of the mare and newborn foal and the quality of milk produced on dairy equine farms. The detection of mastitis is therefore one of the important goals in the equine breeding and dairy industry. This study aimed to determine the somatic cell count (SCC), the percentage of the immune cells, the electrical conductivity (ECM), and bacteriological index (BII) in milk collected from mares with (CM) and without (NCM) clinical symptoms of mastitis. The increase in examined indicators is suspected to be a subclinical mastitis indicator, therefore the study aimed to separate two subgroups, mares with (SM) and without (NSM) subclinical symptoms of mastitis. In milk from NCM mares the values of SCC, immune cells, and ECM increased immediately after birth and weaning, whereas during the rest of the lactation period their values were at a low level. Similarly, in milk from CM mares, the values of examined indicators were high and comparable to the weaning time. An increase in the level of examined indicators may become an early indication of subclinical mastitis.The somatic cell count in milk (SCC) and electrical conductivity of milk (ECM) are indicators of the health status of the mammary gland. Among somatic cells, mainly polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN), macrophages (MAC), and lymphocytes (LYM) are rated. This study aimed to determine the SCC, PMN, MAC, LYM, ECM, and bacteriological index (BII) in milk collected from mares with (CM) and without (NCM) clinical symptoms of mastitis concerning mares with (SM) and without (NSM) subclinical mastitis. Milk samples were collected from 27 mares divided into NCM (n = 12) and CM (n = 15) groups. In samples, SCC quantification, cytological examinations, ECM measurement, and bacteriological examination were performed. In NCM mares, the values of SCC, PMN, MAC, LYM, and ECM were higher in initial than in consecutive examined days after birth until weaning. After weaning the proportion of SCC, PMN, MAC, LYM, ECM, and BII increased and did not differ with the average values in CM mares. These equine milk indicators may reflect an early symptom of subclinical mastitis and in the future may be used in the early detection of mastitis or as a tool of assessment of the health status of the mammary gland in the dairy equine farm.

Early Detection of Mastitis by using Infrared Thermography in Holstein-Friesian Dairy Cows via Classification and Regression Tree (CART) Analysis

Subclinical mastitis is an important udder disease that negatively affects both the animal health and reduces profitability in dairy farms. The increasing performance of thermal cameras over time and their usability in different areas increase their use in livestocks. Infrared thermography (IRT) technology is a noninvasive method that can estimate the surface temperature of objects. The objective of this study was to evaluate early detection of mastitis in Holstein-Friesian dairy cattle by using both udder surface temperatures (Tmax) from images obtained with the help of a FLIR One Pro thermal camera and some parameters such as Lab (CIE L*, a*, b*), HSB (Hue, Saturation, Brightness), RGB (Red, Green, Blue) by processing thermal images with the help of ImageJ program via classification and regression tree (CART) analysis. According to California Mastitis Test CMT by using CART analysis in this study, 64.9% of cows with udder surface temperature lower than 38.85 were healthy, and 73.3% of cows higher than 38.85 were determined as unhealthy. As for SCC, 77.6% of cows with udder surface temperature lower than 38.65 were healthy and 58.6% of cows with higher than 38.65 were determined as unhealthy. The areas under ROC (AUC) were found to be statistically significant in the diagnosis of subclinical mastitis. (P&lt;0.01) The sensitivity and specificity of the CART algorithm for CMT and SCC diagnostic tests were 85.42%, 81.48% and 90.20%, 80.39%, respectively. There was no significant difference between SCC and CMT tests in the area under the ROC curve (P&gt;0.05). As a result, IRT technology can be used as a useful diagnostic tool in the early detection of mastitis.

Early detection of mastitis using SFMT in dairy animals

Bovine mastitis is a dairy cattle disease with high economic impact. Subclinical mastitis (SCM) contributes to most of the financial losses. A total of 229 milk samples were subjected to surf field mastitis (SFMT) test and Tanuchek SCC kit to quantify their efficacy in detecting sub clinical mastitis in dairy cows, of which 41 samples were found to be positive with SFMT and 20 samples positive with Tanuchek SCC kit. The study concluded that SFMT was significantly (p<0.05) more sensitive than Tanuchek SCC kit.

First Evaluation of Infrared Thermography as a Tool for the Monitoring of Udder Health Status in Farms of Dairy Cows.

The aim of the present study was to test infrared thermography (IRT), under field conditions, as a possible tool for the evaluation of cow udder health status. Thermographic images (n. 310) from different farms (n. 3) were collected and evaluated using a dedicated software application to calculate automatically and in a standardized way, thermographic indices of each udder. Results obtained have confirmed a significant relationship between udder surface skin temperature (USST) and classes of somatic cell count in collected milk samples. Sensitivity and specificity in the classification of udder health were: 78.6% and 77.9%, respectively, considering a level of somatic cell count (SCC) of 200,000 cells/mL as a threshold to classify a subclinical mastitis or 71.4% and 71.6%, respectively when a threshold of 400,000 cells/mL was adopted. Even though the sensitivity and specificity were lower than in other published papers dealing with non-automated analysis of IRT images, they were considered acceptable as a first field application of this new and developing technology. Future research will permit further improvements in the use of IRT, at farm level. Such improvements could be attained through further image processing and enhancement, and the application of indicators developed and tested in the present study with the purpose of developing a monitoring system for the automatic and early detection of mastitis in individual animals on commercial farms.

Infrared thermography as non-invasive technique for early detection of mastitis in dairy animals-A review

“Mastitis” is one of the major challenges for dairy industry, worldwide, as this is most common and costliest disease of dairy animals and contributes a substantial economical loss to dairy farmers. Subclinical stage of mastitis i.e. Sub-clinical mastitis (SCM) in dairy cow is matter of great concern for farmers as its incidence is more as compared to clinical form. In most of animal farms, monitoring of sub-clinical and clinical mastitis (CM) is usually performed through indirect test such as pH, electrical conductivity, somatic cell count (SCC), California mastitis test (CMT), culture test and biomarker tests. But, apart from these, there is a need of new rapid and sensitive technology to identify udder infections at early stages. Early detection of mastitis using non-invasive technology is need of the hour to reduce the economic loss of the dairy industry and farmers. It is well evident that, skin surface temperature is a critical indicator of bio-physiological health status of an organism. As a result of infection-induced inflammatory reactions, local blood circulation, metabolism and skin surface temperature increases. Thus, by monitoring the emitted heat from udder, can help in early detection of mastitis. Moreover, Infrared thermography (IRT) using highly sensitive thermal camera is able to monitor subtle change in skin surface temperature. IRT with mobile based application can further play an important role in the management of dairy farms on various aspects.

Using temperature-sensing reticular boluses to aid in the detection of production diseases in dairy cows

The objective of this study was to investigate associations between increases in reticular temperature (RT) in dairy cows and the diagnosis of metritis, mastitis, lameness, and pneumonia by dairy personnel. A prospective case-control study was conducted on a 2,175-cow dairy operation in Colorado from May 2010 to April 2011. Each cow received an orally administered temperature sensing reticular bolus after parturition and RT measurements were recorded 3 times per day as lactating cows exited the milking parlor. A cow was identified as having an increased RT when a deviation of 0.8°C above baseline (average of readings of previous 10d) was recorded by the TempTrack software (DVM Systems, LLC, Greeley, CO). During the same study period, dairy personnel without access to RT data recorded health events and classified them according to clinical signs observed. A total of 201 health events (cases) were included in the data analysis. Cows with clinical mastitis and pneumonia had significantly higher odds (6.7 and 7.5 times higher, respectively) of having an increased RT of 0.8°C above their baseline within 4d preceding diagnosis when compared with control cows. Specificity and sensitivity for an increase of 0.8°C above baseline RT within 4d of disease diagnosis was 76.85 and 66.97% for mastitis, and 69.23 and 76.92% for pneumonia, respectively. No significant difference in RT was found for cows diagnosed with lameness or metritis. Results of this study suggest that RT monitoring can be a useful tool in the early detection of mastitis and pneumonia in dairy cows.

Short Communication: Early Detection of Mastitis Using Infrared Thermography in Dairy Cows

Infrared thermography (IRT) absorbs infrared radiation and generates images based on the amount of heat generated. It has been used in human medicine for diagnosis of various cancers. This experiment was conducted to determine if IRT had merit for early detection of subclinical mastitis in dairy cows. Milk sample and skin surface temperature (SST) were simultaneously evaluated using the California Mastitis Test (CMT) and IRT for each quarter in 94 dairy cows (49 Brown Swiss and 45 Holstein). Average days in milk (DIM) and milk production were 93±37 d and 16±2.2kg (mean±SD) and their ages ranged from 4 to 8 yr. There was a strong correlation between SST and CMT score (r=0.92). Average SST was 33.19, 34.08, 34.99, and 36.15°C for quarters with the CMT score of 0 (n=156), +1 (n=116), +2 (n=80), and +3 (n=24), respectively. This association was best described by a linear model as follows: y=0.94x + 33.17, R2=0.85, where y=SST and x=CMT score. Changes in rectal temperature (RT) due to the CMT score were minor (y=0.09x + 38.39, R2=0.07, where y=RT and x=average CMT score). In conclusion, RT may not confirm mastitis. However, IRT is sensitive enough to perceive changes in SST in response to varying degrees of severity of the mammary gland infection as reflected by the CMT score, suggesting that as a noninvasive tool, IRT can be employed for screening dairy cows for mastitis.

Influence of Mastitis on Milk Yield in Holstein Cows

The objectives of the current study were to investigate the incidence of mastitis in a private dairy herd and the effect of the disease on the lactation milk yield (LMY), and on the daily average of the weekly milk yield (DMY). Only cows with no disease and cows with mastitis were included in the analyses. Mixed model procedures were used to analyse the DMY. Incidence of mastitis in the herd was 26.22%. The incidences of first, second and third parity groups were 19.94%, 33.74% and 40.74%, respectively. Daily milk losses because of mastitis varied between 0.76 kg/d and 4.56 kg/d. The total milk loss was 600.87 kg for cows that became mastitic in the first six weeks of lactation and was 503.86 kg for cows that became mastitic after the sixth week of lactation. The milk losses of cows that contracted mastitis after the sixth week of lactation, began three weeks before the diagnosis. The mastitic cows failed to reach their healthy levels of milk yield during the rest of the lactation. The results indicate that weekly lactation records are useful in early detection of mastitis.

Puerperal mastitis: Causes, prevention, and management

Breast infection can be a pathologically based negative influence on breast feeding. There are basically five types of lactational mastitis: subclinical mastitis, acute puerperal mastitis (cellulitis and adenitis), supperative mastitis, mammary infection with uncommon organisms, and virus infection in mammary neoplasms. The first three types are seen most often. Mastitis patients present, along with fever, a rapid pulse, and hot, reddened, tender areas on one or both breasts. Symptoms are most severe in supperative mastitis. In these cases, the developing breast abscess may be clearly identifiable. Nipple trauma and engorgement are thought to be predisposing factors to mastitis. Nipple trauma may lead to fissured nipples, thereby facilitating entry of bacteria into the connective tissue of the breast and development of acute cellulitic mastitis. Engorgement leads to stasis of milk and plugged milk ducts, which may create a setting conclusive to development of acute adenitis. Nurse-midwives should be actively involved in prevention and early detection of mastitis. Prevention may include instruction in hand expression and breast massage; encouragement of early, unrestricted nursing; identification of mothers with increased risk of nipple trauma and engorgement; instruction in signs and symptoms of infection; identification of support and information sources; and scheduling of early postpartum clinic visits. Treatment of mastitis includes rest in bed, increased oral fluids, temperature monitoring, and either continuation of breast feeding or discontinuation with binding of breasts and application of ice packs. Research seems to indicate that continuation is preferable. Treatment with antibiotics, usually antistaphylococcal drugs, is also necessary.

Early detection of mastitis.

Early detection of mastitis.