Ozone use in the treatment of subclinical mastitis in dairy cows.

This research communication paper addresses the hypothesis that the use of therapeutic alternatives for mastitis, such as intramammary ozone, can cure the disease with lower costs and without harmful residues for human consumption and without formation of microbial resistance like the ones caused by indiscriminate use of antibiotics in dairy farms. The study was performed in 36 mammary quarters from 12 dairy cows with subclinical mastitis grade three. The experimental units were randomly assigned into four groups and each group received a treatment. Treatments comprised (a) 20 µg/ml ozone gas; (b) 40 µg/ml ozone gas; (c) negative control treatment of 12.5 µg/ml ozonated saline and (d) positive control treatment of 100 mg of cephalexin + 100 mg of neomycin + 10 mg of prednisolone, all by intramammary injection. In all quarters, milk was collected before and after the application of treatments for California mastitis test and evaluation of milk composition, somatic cell count, and bacterial cultures. The results indicated that the use of intramammary ozone did have a therapeutic effect, and whilst this was less than that of antibiotics, ozone does confer some advantages. Treated milk had a good composition, the treatment cost was low, milk withdrawal may not be necessary and there is no risk of antibiotic resistance.

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.

[Literature review on phyto-therapeutics for the treatment of bovine mastitis]. / Literaturübersicht zum Thema ­Phytotherapie zur Behandlung von ­Mastitis beim Rind.

INTRODUCTION: Literature review on phyto-therapeutics for the treatment of bovine mastitis.

INTRODUCTION: Afin de trouver une alternative aux traitements antibiotiques conventionnels des mammites bovines, une recherche bibliographique a été menée en 2015 sur les agents phytothérapeutiques qui ont été étudiés in vitro et utilisés in vivo (sur des patients) dans le monde entier. Une recherche bibliographique est l'une des premières étapes du développement d'un agent phytothérapeutique peroral contre les mammites bovines en utilisant la méthode de «pharmacologie inverse¼. Des phytothérapies citées dans le monde entier dans tous les types d'administration ont été compilées et comptées. Un total de 935 citations pertinentes différentes ont été trouvées dans 195 publications, qui ont été séparées et comptées en fonction de leur type d'appli­cation et de l'espèce cible. La liste de toutes les plantes et les citations peuvent être téléchargés à partir de http://vets.ch/desktop/liste-des-plantes_fuchs_def_sat.pdf . On a répertorié dans la présente étude 106 plantes pour l'application perorale, 45 plantes pour l'application intra mammaire et 24 huiles essentielles (perorale, intra mammaire ou topique) pour le traitement des mammites bovines. La condition préalable à cette sélection était que les plantes soient mentionnées dans la littérature comme agent thérapeutique. En outre, il a été pris en compte si des études in vitro ou in vivo avaient déjà été menées. D'une part, cette liste devrait servir de preuve de l'utilisation traditionnelle des plantes dans le traitement des mammites bovines et, d'autre part, constituer une base pour de nouvelles recherches.

A potential treatment approach for subclinical mastitis in dairy cows: auriculotherapy of the auricular branch of the vagus nerve.

This research aims to test the hypothesis that neural therapy (NT) on the auricular branch of the vagus nerve (ABVN) in dairy cows diagnosed with subclinical mastitis (SCM) results in a reduction of the somatic cell count. Therapeutic options for SCM are mostly based on use of antibiotics and often lead to unsatisfactory results. An alternative therapy targeting the anti-inflammatory properties of the vagus nerve showing good efficacy, economic viability and without major side effects would be of considerable interest. Auriculotherapy (AT) was performed using three repeated infiltrations of 8.0 mg (0.4 ml) procaine hydrochloride (2%) at the location of the ear tag associated with the auricular acupuncture point (AAP) of the udder. Some 85 clinically healthy cows from nine dairy farms were sampled for evaluation of quarter somatic cell count (QSCC) on four days (d0, d2, d4 and d6). Quarters with a QSCC > 100 000 cells/ml on d0 were included in the analysis. Over the study period, a total of 784 quarters were analysed, 385 control (CON) quarters from 40 cows and 399 treated (TRE) quarters from 45 cows. Results showed that AT of the ABNV resulted in a significant reduction of the QSCC after three treatments. The effect was independent of bacteriological culture results of the quarter milk samples. The bacteriological cure rate, however, was not influenced by AT. To our knowledge this is the first report of AT reducing QSCC in dairy cows with SCM. Before AT can be regarded as an alternative therapeutic approach, further research should focus on possible long-term effects of AT on the reduction of SCC, any bacterial elimination and the neural pathways of AT in dairy cows with SCM.

Intramammary antibiotics with complementary acupuncture decreases milk serum N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase concentrations in dairy cattle with subclinical mastitis.

The objective of this research is to determine whether intramammary antibiotics with complementary acupuncture can reduce bovine mammary inflammation due to subclinical mastitis. Lactating cows were selected based on milk with a somatic cell count (SCC) greater than 500,000 cells/ml. Pre- and post-treatment milk samples were collected to determine SCC, aerobic bacterial content, milk ion conductivity, total protein, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAGase) concentrations. Milk serum was prepared from milk samples by double centrifugation. Concentrations of LDH and NAGase were determined using commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Cows being treated with intramammary antibiotics were separated by random assignment to the acupuncture group (n = 10) and a no-acupuncture (control) group (n = 9). Both the acupuncture and control group were restrained for 30 min in a head catch 12 hr apart for a total of four times. For front quarters affected by subclinical mastitis, the acupuncture points used were spleen (SP) 12, SP 17, SP 18, SP 21, stomach (ST) 18 and conception vessel (CV) 12. For rear quarters affected by subclinical mastitis, the acupuncture points used were bladder (BL) 30, BL 30-1, BL 49, kidney (KI) 10, conception vessel (CV) 2 and CV 3. All parameters were compared using a Student t test. Significance was defined as p < .05. Compared to control cows, complementary acupuncture treatment reduced NAGase enzymatic activity in quarters of cows with subclinical mastitis. The reduction in NAGase suggests that complementary acupuncture treatment may be associated with healing of the damaged mammary epithelial cells, which are the primary source of NAGase activity in milk serum.

Safety and efficacy of a mesenchymal stem cell intramammary therapy in dairy cows with experimentally induced Staphylococcus aureus clinical mastitis.

Although, antibiotics are effective in the treatment of bovine mastitis, they do not address the regeneration of mammary glandular tissue and have been associated to the increment in antimicrobial resistance worldwide. Considering the necessity of alternative therapies for this disease of high economic impact and the reported regenerative and antibacterial effects of mesenchymal stem cell (MSCs), we evaluated the safety and efficacy of an allogenic MSC-based intramammary therapy in dairy cows with experimentally induced Staphylococcus aureus clinical mastitis. In a safety trial, heifers were inoculated intramammarily with a 2.5 × 107-suspension of bovine fetal AT-MSCs on experimental days 1 and 10. Animals were evaluated clinically on a daily basis during a 20-day experimental period and blood samples were collected for hemogram determination and peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) isolation. In an efficacy trial, Holstein Friesian cows were inoculated with S. aureus and treated intramammarily with vehicle (NEG; days 4 and 10), antibiotics (ATB; days 4 and 5) or a suspension of 2.5 × 107 AT-MSCs (MSC; days 4 and 5). Cows were clinically evaluated daily and milk samples were collected for somatic cell count (SCC) and colony forming units (CFU). Blood samples were collected for serum haptoglobin and amyloid A determination. Intramammary administration of two doses of bovine fetal AT-MSCs in healthy cows did not induce changes in clinical or hematological variables, and gene expression profiles in PBLs associated to activation (CD4, CD8, CD25, CD62L and CD69) and proinflammatory cytokines (CCL2, CCL5, IL2, CXCL3, IFNγ, and TNFα). Quarters of MSC group of cows had similar SCC log/mL in milk compared to infected quarters of ATB or NEG cows. However, quarters of MSC cows had lower CFU log/mL in milk compared to quarters of NEG cows. Intramammarily inoculation of repeated doses of 2.5 × 107 allogenic AT-MSCs did not induce clinical or immunological response in healthy cows. Moreover, MSC-intramammary treatment reduced bacterial count in milk of cows with S. aureus clinical mastitis compared to untreated cows. This work provides initial evidence for the safety and efficacy of an allogenic MSC-based intramammary therapy for the treatment of bovine mastitis.

Comparative effectiveness of individualised homeopathy and antibiotics in the treatment of bovine clinical mastitis: randomised controlled trial.

Based on the widespread use of homeopathy in dairy farm practice when treating mastitis, a blind randomised controlled trial (RCT) was conducted to assess the effectiveness of homeopathic treatment of clinical mastitis on four dairy farms. The study considered specific guidelines for RCTs as well as the basic principles of individualised homeopathy and involved 180 lactating dairy cows. Evaluation of cure rates was based on clinical investigation of the udder and on laboratory analysis of milk samples. In culture-positive cases, the antibiotic treatment provided suboptimal bacteriological cures (60-81 per cent) but was more effective than individualised homeopathy (33-43 per cent) whose effects appeared little different to those of placebos (45-47 per cent) (P≤0.05). On the cytological cure level, all three treatment methods were similarly ineffective: antibiotic being 2-21 per cent, individualised homeopathy 0-8 per cent and placebo 3-13 per cent (P≤0.05; P=0.13). Antibiotics, individualised homeopathy and placebo had similar effects on bacteriological and cytological cure in cases of culture-negative milk samples (P>0.4) and Escherichia coli infections (P=1.0). The study results implied that the effectiveness of individualised homeopathy does not go beyond a placebo effect and successful treatment is highly dependent on the specific mastitis pathogen. Thus, antimicrobial or alternative remedies used should be based on the bacterial culture of the milk sample. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NTP-ID: 00008011-1-9, Pre-results.

Antibiotic use by farmers to control mastitis as influenced by health advice and dairy farming systems.

Mastitis is a bacterial disease common in dairy farms. Although knowledge about mastitis and its optimal technical management and treatment is now available, some dairy farmers still use antibiotics in inappropriate ways. Antibiotic use by farmers can be influenced by personal restraints and motivations, but it can be assumed that external drivers are also influential. The main purpose of this article is thus to analyse the choices of antibiotic and alternative medicine use for mastitis treatment and investigate the possible influence of two unexplored external drivers in dairy farms: (i) the health advice offered to farmers by farm advisors and veterinarians, (ii) the dairy farming system, as defined by combining the market valuation chosen for the milk, the level of intensification, and the perceived pressure related to investments. Research was based on 51 individual semi-structured interviews with farmers and their corresponding veterinarians and farm advisors. Based on verbatim, the use of antibiotics and alternative medicine by farmers for mastitis treatment, the vet-farmers interactions, and the dairy farming systems are described. The advisory relationships between farmers and farm advisors and between farmers and veterinarians influenced the implementation of selective dry cow therapy, but had very little effect on the use of alternative medicines by farmers, who were more willing to experiment alternative medicines than their advisors. The dairy farming system had very little influence on antibiotic use: some misuse of antibiotics was found whatever the farming system. Systematic dry cow therapy was also a widespread habit in all dairy farming systems except organic. The use of alternative medicine was common in all farming systems.

Invited review: A systematic review and qualitative analysis of treatments other than conventional antimicrobials for clinical mastitis in dairy cows.

Clinical mastitis is an important disease in dairies. Its treatment is mainly based on the use of antimicrobial drugs. Numerous non-antimicrobial drugs and treatment strategies have already been reported for clinical mastitis treatment, but data on their efficacy have never been collated in a systematic way. The objective of this systematic review was to identify treatments other than conventional antimicrobials for the treatment of clinical mastitis in lactating dairy cows. A systematic review was performed with studies written in English or French selected from CAB Abstracts, PubMed, and Web of Science from January 1970 to June 2014. Controlled clinical trials, observational studies, and experimental challenges were retained. Lactating dairy cows with clinical mastitis were the participant of interest. All treatments other than conventional antimicrobials for clinical mastitis during lactation were retained. Only studies comparing the treatment under investigation to a negative or positive control, or both, were included. Outcomes evaluated were clinical and bacteriological cure rates and milk production. Selection of the study, data extraction, and assessment of risk of bias was performed by 3 reviewers. Assessment of risk of bias was evaluated using the Cochrane Collaboration tool for systematic review of interventions. A total of 2,451 manuscripts were first identified and 39 manuscripts corresponding to 41 studies were included. Among these, 22 were clinical trials, 18 were experimental studies, and 1 was an observational study. The treatments evaluated were conventional anti-inflammatory drugs (n = 14), oxytocin with or without frequent milk out (n = 5), biologics (n = 9), homeopathy (n = 5), botanicals (n = 4), probiotics (n = 2), and other alternative products (n = 2). All trials had at least one unclear or high risk of bias. Most trials (n = 13) did not observe significant differences in clinical or bacteriological cure rates in comparison with negative or positive controls. Few studies evaluated the effect of treatment on milk yield. In general, the power of the different studies was very low, thus precluding conclusions on noninferiority or nonsuperiority of the treatments investigated. No evidence-based recommendations could be given for the use of an alternative or non-antimicrobial conventional treatment for clinical mastitis. However, probiotics and oxytocin with or without frequent milk out should not be recommended. We concluded that homeopathic treatments are not efficient for management of clinical mastitis.

Randomized, blinded, controlled clinical trial shows no benefit of homeopathic mastitis treatment in dairy cows.

Mastitis is one of the most common diseases in dairy production, and homeopathic remedies have been used increasingly in recent years to treat it. Clinical trials evaluating homeopathy have often been criticized for their inadequate scientific approach. The objective of this triple-blind, randomized controlled trial was to assess the efficacy of homeopathic treatment in bovine clinical mastitis. The study was conducted on a conventionally managed dairy farm between June 2013 and May 2014. Dairy cows with acute mastitis were randomly allocated to homeopathy (n = 70) or placebo (n = 92), for a total of 162 animals. The homeopathic treatment was selected based on clinical symptoms but most commonly consisted of a combination of nosodes with Streptococcinum, Staphylococcinum, Pyrogenium, and Escherichia coli at a potency of 200c. Treatment was administered to cows in the homeopathy group at least once per day for an average of 5 d. The cows in the placebo group were treated similarly, using a placebo preparation instead (lactose globules without active ingredients). If necessary, we also used allopathic drugs (e.g., antibiotics, udder creams, and anti-inflammatory drugs) in both groups. We recorded data relating to the clinical signs of mastitis, treatment, time to recovery, milk yield, somatic cell count at first milk recording after mastitis, and culling. We observed cows for up to 200 d after clinical recovery. Base-level data did not differ between the homeopathy and placebo groups. Mastitis lasted for an average of 6 d in both groups. We observed no significant differences in time to recovery, somatic cell count, risk of clinical cure within 14 d after disease occurrence, mastitis recurrence risk, or culling risk. The results indicated no additional effect of homeopathic treatment compared with placebo. The advantages or disadvantages of homeopathy should be carefully assessed for individual farms.

Mastitis prevention and control practices and mastitis treatment strategies associated with the consumption of (critically important) antimicrobials on dairy herds in Flanders, Belgium.

The main objectives of this study were to evaluate to what extent variations in herd-level antimicrobial consumption (AMC) can be explained by differences in management practices that are consistently effective in the prevention of (sub)clinical mastitis, on the one hand, and by differences in mastitis treatment strategies, on the other hand. Antimicrobial consumption data were obtained during 2012 and 2013 by "garbage can audits" and expressed as antimicrobial treatment incidences (ATI) for all compounds combined (total ATI) and for the critically important antimicrobials for human health separately. Data on mastitis prevention and control practices were obtained via face-to-face interviews performed during herd visits in March 2013. Some management practices and treatment strategies related to udder health were associated with the total AMC. However, the results demonstrated that implementing effective udder health management practices does not necessarily imply a low AMC and vice versa. Herds participating in a veterinary herd health management program and herds selectively drying off cows used fewer antimicrobials compared with herds not participating in such a program or applying blanket dry-cow therapy. Moreover, herds treating (some) (sub)clinical mastitis cases with intramammary homeopathic substances consumed fewer antimicrobials than herds not applying such homeopathic treatments. Besides these factors, no other direct association was found between effective udder health management practices on the one hand and AMC on the other hand. Also, the use of critically important antimicrobials was only associated with the way in which subclinical mastitis cases were treated. The latter indicates that the AMC of critically important antimicrobials is potentially driven by factors other than those included in this study such as those related to the "mindset" of the veterinarians and their farmers. Future research should therefore aim to unravel the reasoning of vets and their farmers behind the use of those critically important antimicrobials for the treatment of mastitis and other diseases.

Dispositivo fotobiomodulador para prevenção e tratamento de hiperqueratose de teto em vacas leiteiras / Photobiomodulation device for prevention and treatment of teat hyperkeratosis in dairy cows

As mastites estão entre as principais causas de prejuízo para produtores de leite. Em casos graves de hiperqueratose, o canal do teto pode se tornar uma barreira mais fácil para que as bactérias penetrem na glândula mamária. Os objetivos deste estudo foram avaliar um dispositivo fotobiomodulador de LED para tratamento e prevenção de hiperqueratose de teto e prevenção da mastite subclínica em um rebanho de leite com alta prevalência de hiperqueratose (35,3 por cento de casos graves). Foram utilizadas 60 primíparas para o experimento de prevenção e 30 vacas com hiperqueratose para o experimento terapêutico. Em ambos os experimentos, metade dos animais foram tratados com o dispositivo fotobiomodulador três vezes por semana, durante 6 semanas. Os outros animais foram os controles. Imagens fotográficas digitalizadas foram realizadas na avaliação inicial e, semanalmente, por 6 semanas consecutivas. Nas primíparas, novas avaliações foram realizadas entre 6 e 7 meses de lactação. Para avaliação da mastite subclínica, contagem de células somáticas (CCS) foram feitas mensalmente. No experimento preventivo, o diâmetro externo das lesões permaneceu constante nos tetos do grupo tratado, enquanto houve aumento no grupo controle. No experimento terapêutico não foram observadas diferenças estatísticas entre as variáveis de hiperqueratose. Contudo, o grupo tratado apresentou menor incidência de mastites subclínicas (CCS < 250 células/mL) por lactação do que o grupo controle (P<0,05). Em conclusão, o tratamento não foi efetivo em prevenir o desenvolvimento ou reduzir lesões instaladas de hiperqueratose de teto. Contudo, o uso protótipo se mostrou útil e promissor como adjuvante na prevenção do aumento de tamanho das lesões de hiperqueratose de teto em primíparas e como forma de reduzir incidência de mastite subclínicas em vacas leiteiras já acometidas.

Mastitis consistis one of the main problems of milk production, mainly due to the production losses and the rising cost of milk. In case of severe hyperkeratosis, the teat canal can become an easier barrier for the bacteria to penetrate. The objeSctive of this study was to assess a phototherapy device construct with LED light for prevention and treatment of teat hyperkeratosis in a dairy cattle herd with high prevalence (35.3 percent of severe cases). 60 primiparous cows were used in the preventive experiment and 30 cows with hyperkeratosis were used in the therapeutic experiment. In both experiments, half of the cows started to be treated in early lactation using the phototherapy device three times per week for 6 weeks. The other cows were the controls. Hyperkeratosis was assessed by scoring and by morphometric analyses of teat images that were taken at baseline and then weekly for 6 consecutive weeks. In the preventive experiment, more images were taken later, between 6 and 7 months of the first lactation. Somatic cell counts (SCC) were performed monthly. In the preventive experiment, the outer diameter of the teat lesions remained constant in the treated group, whereas cows of the control group showed a significant increase at the end of lactation. In the therapeutic groups, no statistical differences for teat hyperkeratosis variables were seen between groups. However, the incidence of subclinical mastitis (SCC > 250 cells/mL) during lactation was lower in the treated group (P<0.05). In conclusion the phototherapy protocol did not prevent the development in primiparous or ameliorate previous hyperkeratosis lesions in cows. However, the prototype was considered useful as an adjunct in preventing the increase in the size of teat hyperkeratosis lesions and also as a way to reduce subclinical mastitis incidence in affected dairy cows.

Effects of continuous lactation and short dry periods on mammary function and animal health.

The dry period is required to facilitate cell turnover in the bovine mammary gland in order to optimize milk yield in the next lactation. Traditionally, an 8-week dry period has been a standard management practice for dairy cows based on retrospective analyses of milk yields following various dry period lengths. However, as milk production per cow has increased, transitioning cows from the nonlactating state to peak milk yield has grown more problematic. This has prompted new studies on dry period requirements for dairy cows. These studies indicate a clear parity effect on dry period requirement. First parity animals require a 60-day dry period, whereas lactations following later parities demonstrate no negative impact with 30-day dry period or even eliminating the dry period when somatotropin (ST) is also used to maintain milk yields. Shortened dry periods in first parity animals were associated with reduced mammary cell turnover during the dry period and early lactation and increased numbers of senescent cells and reduced functionality of lactating alveolar mammary cells postpartum. Use of ST and increased milking frequency postpartum reduced the impact of shortened dry periods. The majority of new intramammary infections occur during the dry period and persist into the following lactation. There is therefore the possibility of altering mastitis incidence by modifying or eliminating the dry period in older parity animals. As the composition of mammary secretions including immunoglobulins may be reduced when the dry period is reduced or eliminated, there is the possibility that the immune status of cows during the peripartum period is influenced by the length of the dry period.

Aspectos produtivos e sanitários de vacas mestiças leiteiras tratadas com produtos homeopáticos / Productive and sanitary aspects of crossbred milking cows receiving homeopathic products

Nos dias de hoje, a população mundial exige o consumo de alimentos de qualidade, sem resíduos de produtos químicos. Desempenho (produção e qualidade do leite, peso e condição corporal) e sanidade (mastite e infestação por ecto e endoparasitas) foram acompanhados em oito vacas leiteiras mestiças de um rebanho de 40 (20%), que recebeu diariamente produtos homeopáticos comerciais no concentrado para o controle de endo e ectoparasitas e mastite. No período de nove meses, que correspondeu a toda uma lactação, não houve necessidade de medicar com produtos alopáticos nenhuma vaca do rebanho, o que demonstrou ser possível criar vacas leiteiras mestiças não utilizando produtos químicos para o combate a parasitas (carrapato, mosca-do-chifre e verminose), ou antibióticos para o controle de mastite, e sem interferir na produtividade dos animais.

Nowadays the world population demands food of good quality, without any residues from chemical products. Eight cows from a herd of 40, which were consuming commercial homeopathic medicines at the daily concentration for control of endoand ectoparasites, were monitored in terms of their performance (production and quality of milk, body score and body weight) and sanitary aspects (parasites infestation and mastitis) during the lactation period. It was not necessary to give any allopathic (conventional) medicines to control mastitis or parasites (ticks, horn-fly, verminosis) in any cow of the herd during the nine months of the lactation period. The results showed that it is possible to produce milk without using chemical products, and not interfering in the productivity of the crossbred animals.

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.

Mastitis and related management factors in certified organic dairy herds in Sweden.

BACKGROUND: Mastitis is one of the major threats to animal health, in organic farming as well as conventional. Preliminary studies of organic dairy herds have indicated better udder health in such herds, as compared to conventional herds. The aim of this paper was to further study mastitis and management related factors in certified organic dairy herds. METHODS: An observational study of 26 certified organic dairy herds in mid-eastern Sweden was conducted during one year. A large-animal practitioner visited the herds three times and clinically examined and sampled cows, and collected information about general health and management routines. Data on milk production and disorders treated by a veterinarian in the 26 herds, as well as in 1102 conventional herds, were retrieved from official records. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess associations between herd type (organic vs. conventional) and incidence of disorders. RESULTS: The organic herds that took part in the study ranged in size from 12 to 64 cows, in milk production from 3772 to 10,334 kg per cow and year, and in bulk milk somatic cell counts from 83,000 to 280,000 cells/ml. The organic herds were found to have a lower incidence of clinical mastitis, teat injuries, and a lower proportion of cows with a high somatic cell count (as indicated by the UDS, Udder Disease Score) compared to conventional herds. The spectrum of udder pathogenic bacteria was similar to that found in other Swedish studies. Treatment of mastitis was found to be similar to what is practised in conventional herds. Homeopathic remedies were not widely used in the treatment of clinical mastitis.The calves in most of these organic herds suckled their dams for only a few days, which were not considered to substantially affect the udder health. The main management factor that was different from conventional herds was the feeding strategy, where organic herds used a larger share of forage. CONCLUSION: Udder health in Swedish organic herds appears to be better than in conventional herds of comparable size and production. The major difference in management between the two types of farms is the proportion of concentrates fed. The mechanisms explaining the association between intensity of feeding and udder health in dairy cows require further research.

Development and daily management of an explicit strategy of nonuse of antimicrobial drugs in twelve Danish organic dairy herds.

Promotion of animal health and well-being at the individual animal and herd level is an important goal in organic farming. At the same time, chemical products affecting the natural balance among living organisms are prohibited in all areas of the organic farm. From an animal welfare point of view, however, no animal must suffer. Therefore, veterinary drugs are allowed under the European Union's regulations for organic farming, despite the fact that they are powerful cell toxins affecting both pathogenic and necessary bacteria, and as such in organic terminology, are regarded as "chemical" or "artificial" products. In this article, we present and discuss interviews with 12 Danish organic dairy producers who claim that minimized use or nonuse of antimicrobial drugs is an explicit goal. The dairy producers were at different levels with regard to reduced antimicrobial treatment. An explicit strategy of no antimicrobial treatments is based primarily on a long-term effort to improve herd health, and secondarily, on finding alternative treatments for diseased animals. Improved hygiene, outdoor access, use of nursing cows, and blinding of chronic mastitis quarters were the main techniques in developing a strategy of not using antimicrobial treatments in the herd by dairy producers. Producers' perception of disease changed from something unavoidable to a disturbing break in the daily rhythm that often could have been avoided. Change toward a nonantimicrobial strategy was gradual and stepwise. All dairy producers in this study desired to preserve the possibility of using antimicrobial drugs in emergencies.

Intramammary expression and therapeutic effect of a human lysozyme-expressing vector for treating bovine mastitis.

To develop a gene therapy strategy for treating bovine mastitis, a new mammary-specific vector containing human lysozyme (hLYZ) cDNA and kanamycin resistance gene was constructed for intramammary expression and clinical studies. After one time acupuncture or intracisternal infusion of healthy cows with 400 microg of the p215C3LYZ vector, over 2.0 microg/ml of rhLYZ could be detected by enzymatic assay for about 3 weeks in the milk samples. Western blotting showed that rhLYZ secreted into milk samples from the vector-injected cows had molecular weight similar to that of the natural hLYZ in human colostrums. Twenty days after the primary injection, the quarters were re-injected with the same vector by quarter acupuncture and even higher concentrations of rhLYZ could be detected. Indirect competitive ELISA of milk samples showed that the vector injection did not induce detectable humoral immune response against hLYZ. Clinical studies showed that twice acupuncture of quarters with the p215C3LYZ vector had overt therapeutic effect on clinical and subclinical mastitis previously treated with antibiotics, including disappearance of clinical symptoms and relatively high microbiological cure rates. These data provide a solid rationale for using the vector to develop gene therapy for treating bovine mastitis.

Investigations of the motivation underlying Norwegian dairy farmers' use of homoeopathy.

Eighteen Norwegian dairy farmers were interviewed to examine their reasons for using homoeopathic treatments in managing their herds' health. Overall, they chose the treatments on the basis of factors related to their personal experience, considerations of individual animals and the framework for dairy production. For individual animals homoeopathy was used as an alternative to conventional veterinary treatment, but at the herd level it was used to complement it. The farmers' use of homoeopathic treatment for personal health problems and the experience of their colleagues with its use in dairy production were important factors motivating their initial use of homoeopathy. Other factors included a desire to decrease the use of antibacterial drugs, reduce costs and find alternatives when conventional veterinary medicine provided no effective treatment. In individual cases, the severity of disease, previous experience and the farmers' personal knowledge and resources were important. These factors parallel those found to influence the use of complementary and alternative therapies in human medicine. The lack of understanding and documentation of the effects of homoeopathic remedies was not important to the farmers, and they valued personal experience more highly than scientific evidence or the opposition to homoeopathy encountered within the veterinary profession.