ungojwa wa kiwele

Mastitis contro and preventing ( ungojwa wa kiwele )
Mastitis is still one of the most devastating diseases on dairy farms. It causes massive economic losses, even on farms with a low incidence of clinical mastitis. It is becoming painfully clear that heifers can also be affected by udder infections, even prior to calving.
Approximately 60% of all heifers have an intramammary infection at calving. Some 16% of these heifers will suffer from clinical mastitis during their first lactation and 30% of these mastitis cases will occur within 14 days after calving. This results in a reduced milk yield in the first lactation, causing severe economic losses.



Route of infection
1)Bacteria on the teat skin.
2)Bacteria in the environment of the heifer.
3)Bacteria transmitted by flies

‘Sucklers’ (animals that suckle other animals) in a group of young stock.
The same bacteria that are found in older dairy cows can be detected in heifers. Most frequently isolated are E. coli, Staphylococci (coagulase negative staphylococci (CNS) and Staphylococcus aureus) and streptococci.

Economic consequences
The economic loss from one single case of clinical mastitis in Western Europe ranges from 200-300 euro. The magnitude of loss depends upon the bacteria involved, the herd’s production level, and the accuracy of veterinarian and farmer in detecting and treating animals with clinical mastitis.

The losses consist of veterinary costs (treatment and visits), the value of milk discarded during treatment and withholding periods, additional farm labour, reduced production for the remaining lactation period, occasional deaths and involuntary culling.

Most clinical mastitis cases occur in the first trimester of lactation. The proportion of heifers with mastitis around calving varies from 30-35%; stress, negative energy status and metabolic disorders are believed to be important risk factors. However, heifers can already be infected several weeks before their first calving.

Prevention
Mastitis in heifers can be prevented. In the first place by managerial measures that eliminate the sources of infection:
1)Optimise hygiene, starting directly after birth.
2)Reduce the amount of bacteria in the environment (clean housing and bedding).
3)Optimise insect control.
4)Remove ‘sucklers’ from groups of young stock.
5)In addition, changes that reduce or eliminate risk factors associated with mastitis should be considered:
6)Reduce stress on the animals.
7)Optimise nutrition.
8)Optimise ventilation.
9)Optimise housing.