Persistence of Staphylococcus spp. in milk from cows undergoing homeopathy to control subclinical mastitis.

BACKGROUND: Mastitis is one of the major diseases in dairy cattle, as it causes great economic losses to producers due to the reduction of milk production and changes in the quality of the product. The disease is mainly caused by bacteria of the genus Staphylococcus spp., these microorganisms can express various virulence factors, such as biofilms for example. In herds with organic management, producers and technicians use unconventional ways to treat and control the disease, such as homeopathy. However, it is not known if this type of treatment is able to control pathogenic bacteria such as those of the genus Staphylococcus, of relevance to animal and human health. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the production of biofilm in vitro and its genes by Staphylococcus spp. isolated in the milk of cows treated with homeopathy, as well as the persistence of microorganisms in animals. METHODS: Ninety-nine isolates of Staphylococcus spp. from cows treated and not treated with homeopathy were identified by internal transcribed space-polymerase chain reaction and investigated for the presence of the icaABCD, bap, aap, atlE, and bhp genes and in vitro biofilm production using the adhesion method on polystyrene plates. The enzyme restriction profile was determined by Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis. Clusters of S. aureus and S. epidermidis with three or more isolates had an isolate selected for Multilocus Sequence Typing. RESULTS: The frequency of S. aureus isolations was similar in treated and untreated cows, while 71.4% of the coagulase-negative identified were isolated in cows treated with homeopathy. The distribution of the operon ica genes was similar in animals with and without treatment, except for the icaD gene, more frequent in treated cows. Production of biofilm was associated with presence of one or more genes from the icaADBC operon. S. aureus revealed a greater diversity and greater dissemination in cows treated and not treated with homeopathy. Sequence Types ST1, ST5, and ST126 were identified in S. aureus. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of biofilm-associated genes and the in vitro production of biofilms, combined with the persistence of clonal profiles of Staphylococcus spp. demonstrate other forms of control for bovine mastitis should be researched for organic production herds.

[Effectiveness of a homeopathic prophylaxis for bovine mastitis during dry-off and parturition]. / Zur Wirksamkeit einer homöopathischen Mastitisprophylaxe zum Trockenstellen und Abkalben beim Rind.

The present study examines the efficacy of a homeopathic dry cow prophylaxis in a randomized, placebo controlled case-control field trial. The study was conducted in 24 Brown Swiss farms in the Engadine (Swiss mountain region). The effect of the used homeopathic substances were combined with antibiotics in justified cases. At drying off and in the 3rd and 5th week of lactation the udders were clinically examined and quarter milk samples were taken for bacteriological and cytological analysis. In addition, milk recording data of the first 6 milk testing were included in the evaluations. The used homeopathic prophylaxis at drying off did not show any effect in the incidence of dry cow mastitis and mastitis in the first 120 days of lactation. However, at day 21 post partum significantly fewer animals in the verum group showed a bacteriological finding of a major pathogen, but more animals in this group suffered from a secretion disorder. It has been shown that at the 6th milk test pp significantly more animals of the verum group had a somatic cell count below 100'000 cells/ml than the control group.

Dans cette étude, on contrôle l'efficacité d'une prévention homéopathique lors du tarissement dans le cadre d'une étude randomisée versus placebo. L'étude a été réalisée dans 24 exploitations en Engadine, élevant de la race brune. L'efficacité des produits homéopathiques utilisés a également été considérée en tenant compte des antibiotiques appliquées dans les cas fondés. Chez tous les animaux on a recueilli un échantillon de chaque quartier lors du tarissement ainsi qu'en 3ème et 5ème semaine de lactation. Ces échantillons ont été examinés du point de vu bactériologique et quant au nombre de cellules. En outre, le taux de cellules des 6 premiers contrôles laitier a été intégré dans le calcul des résultats. La prévention homéopathique lors des tarissement n'a pas montré d'effet quant à l'apparition de mammites durant la période de tarissement ou durant les 120 premiers jours de la lactation. On a toutefois pu montrer que, 21 jours postpartum, le nombre d'animaux présentant des résultats bactériologiques avec des germes importants pour les mammites était significativement plus bas mais qu'un plus grand nombres d'animaux souffraient des troubles de la sécrétion. Lors du 6ème contrôle laitier postpartum, il y avait dans le groupe test plus d'animaux avec un taux de cellule inférieur à 100'000/ml que dans le groupe de contrôle.