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Mastitis
Mastitis is a bacterial inflammation of the udder. It is a disease of factors. This means that the bacteria alone are not sufficient to induce mastitis. Factors such as animal, stall, feeding and herd management play a major role.
In order for the mastitis to develop, disease-making germs must penetrate into the cow's udder and set and multiply there. These germs must also meet a host whose defensive mechanisms are inadequate. Mastitis is a common disease in dairy cows. It leads to high economic losses and to considerable disruption of the operating process.
The pathogens that live in the diseased udder, such as Staphylococcus or streptococcus, are often transferred from cow to cow when milking through the milking equipment.
Other pathogens originate from the environment of the animals. The transfer takes place in the intermediate milking period often in the barn area. These pathogens are often coliforms germs, such as E. coli.
Mastitis is easy to see. The affected udder is hot, red and edematous. Touching the udder is painful for the cow and leads to defensive reactions, so it is hardly possible to milk the animal.
The milk is watery or purulent and it is engrained with flakes of different size. The animals often reduce the feed and the number of cells is increased.
It is very important to keep an eye on the cell count and, if necessary, to initiate countermeasures in a timely way by means of preventive measures such as further intensification of stable hygiene and a change of feeding.