Diagnosing mastitis in early lactation: use of Somaticell (R), California mastitis test and somatic cell count

Author(s)

Ferronatto, Jose A. ^{[1, 2]} ; Ferronatto, Thais C. ^[2] ; Schneider, Marla ^[3] ; Pessoa, Lindomar F. ^[3] ; Blagitz, Maiara G. ^{[1, 4]} ; Heinemann, Marcos B. ^[5] ; Della Libera, Alice M. M. P. ^[1] ; Souza, Fernando N. ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Clin Sci, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Univ Western Santa Catarina, Xanxere Campus, Xanxere - Brazil

^[3] Univ Fed Parana, Palotina Campus, Palotina - Brazil

^[4] Fed Univ Southern Border, Realeza Campus, Realeza - Brazil

^[5] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Prevent Vet Med & Anim Hlth, Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Italian Journal of Animal Science; v. 17, n. 3, p. 723-729, 2018.
• Web of Science Citations: 5

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to evaluate different methods for indirectly diagnosing mastitis during the postpartum period. These methods were: automatic and microscopic somatic cell counting (SCC), the California Mastitis Test (CMT) and Somaticell (R). A total of 538 milk samples from 34 cows were used. These were collected at six times: day of parturition (M1) and 3 (M2), 7 (M3), 15 (M4), 21 (M5) and 30 (M6) days after parturition. Automatic and microscopic SCC, CMT and Somaticell (R) were all able to detect mastitis during the immediate postpartum period (up to 3 days postpartum). However, higher cut-off values should be applied to automatic and microscopic SCC. The negative score (score 0) of CMT was considered to be the best cut-off point at all times. Moreover, the values found using the Somaticell (R) test should not be used to presume the automatic SCC values, since there are discrepancies between the values of Somaticell (R) and automatic and microscopic SCC. It can be concluded that the different methods evaluated here to milk cellularity can be applied for diagnosing bovine mastitis, even during the immediate postpartum period, when there is greater cellularity, such as in the colostrum and transition milk. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/23189-4 - Intramammary infections by Staphylococcus aureus: crosstalk between mammary epithelial cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and how it governs immunity in the mammary gland of dairy cows
• Grantee: Fernando Nogueira de Souza
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 12/08982-4 - Incidence of bovine mastitis in the post-partum: influence of the immune response and the mastitis control programs
• Grantee: Alice Maria Melville Paiva Della Libera
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants