Joe Hogan1 and K. Larry Smith
The Ohio State University Department of Animal Sciences
Abstract
Effectively troubleshooting mastitis problems in dairy herds requires accurate diagnoses of the etiological agents, identifying husbandry practices that allow exposure to mastitis pathogens, and offering economically justified changes in management to remedy the problems. The deficiencies in management that leads to mastitis problems tend to be either acute management deficiencies, additive or cyclic management deficiencies, or chronic management deficiencies. Integrating culture results, the current knowledge of microbial ecology and epidemiology of mastitis pathogens, and the history of management changes on a farm will enable those troubleshooting a herd to provide more useful information to the producer.
Introduction
The initial process to effectively troubleshoot mastitis problems in dairy herds is to determine the specific pathogens causing the concern. Secondly, the series of prior and current events that have culminated in an unacceptable amount of disease in the herd must be determined. The final step is implementing corrective measures that are needed to improve mammary health to the appeasement of the producer, regulatory agency, or milk marketing organization. While the role of the troubleshooter does include presenting a clear and concise plan that can economically eliminate or reduce the source of pathogens creating the mastitis problem, the emphasis of this paper will be on the first two steps of the process. These are the analytical "detective" procedures that involve a thorough understanding of the epidemiology of mastitis and the primary sources of mastitis pathogens in a herd. Ultimately the responsibility of implementing change to improve mammary health in a problem herd rests with the producer.