Management of mastitis on organic and conventional dairy farms.

This paper compares management of mastitis on organic dairy farms with that on conventional dairy farms. National standards for organic production vary by country. In the United States, usage of antimicrobials to treat dairy cattle results in permanent loss of organic status of the animal, effectively limiting treatment choices for animals experiencing bacterial diseases. There are no products approved by the US Food and Drug Administration that can be used for treatment of mastitis on organic dairy farms, and usage of unapproved products is contrary to Food and Drug Administration guidelines. In general, organic dairy farms tend to be smaller, produce less, and more likely to be housed and milked in traditional barns as compared with conventionally managed herds. It is difficult to compare disease rates between herds managed conventionally or organically because perception and detection of disease is influenced by management system. To date, no studies have been published with the defined objective of comparing animal health on organic dairy herds with that on conventional dairy herds in the United States. European studies have not documented significant differences in animal health based on adoption of organic management. Few differences in bulk tank somatic cell counts have been identified between organic and conventional herds. Farmers that have adopted organic management consistently report fewer cases of clinical mastitis, but organic farmers do not use the same criteria to detect clinical mastitis. European dairy farmers that adopt organic management report use of a variety of conventional and alternative therapies for treatment and control of mastitis. In the United States, organic farmers treat clinical mastitis using a variety of alternative therapies including whey-based products, botanicals, vitamin supplements, and homeopathy. Organic farmers in the United States use a variety of alternative products to treat cows at dry-off. Virtually no data are available that support the clinical efficacy of any of the alternative veterinary products used for treatment or prevention of mastitis. Some associations between organic management and antimicrobial susceptibility of gram-positive mastitis pathogens have been noted, but overall, few mastitis pathogens from both conventional and organic dairy herds demonstrate resistance to antibiotics commonly used for mastitis control.

Comparative efficacy of homeopathic and allopathic systems of medicine in the management of clinical mastitis of Indian dairy cows.

Mastitis is the major problem of dairy animals despite a number of preventive and therapeutic approaches. Treatment is costly and out of reach of farmers of developing countries like India. The treatment cost of bovine mastitis with conventional treatment has been calculated. Good results have been claimed with homeopathic treatment however, treatment costs are not available. This article reports the treatment economics of homeopathic drugs conventional drugs for the management of bovine mastitis. Ninety-six mastitic quarters (non-fibrosed 67 and fibrosed 29) were treated with a homeopathic combination medicine. Another 96 quarters with acute mastitis (non-fibrosed) treated with different antibiotics were included in the study. The animals were selected from dairy farm of the Indian Veterinary Research Institute and from private dairy farms. The overall effectiveness of homeopathic combination medicine in the treatment of acute non-fibrosed mastitis was 86.6% with a mean recovery period of 7.7 days (range 3-28), and total cost of therapy as Indian Rupees 21.4 (0.39 Euros, US$ 0.47). The corresponding cure rate for the antibiotic group was 59.2% with a mean recovery period of 4.5 days (range 2-15) and an average treatment cost of Rs.149.20 (2.69 Euros, US$ 3.28). We conclude that the combination of Phytolacca, Calcarea fluorica., Silica, Belladonna, Bryonia, Arnica, Conium and Ipecacuanha (Healwell VT-6) was effective and economical in the management of mastitis in lactating dairy cows.