Economic comparison of immediate blanket treatment versus a delayed pathogen-based treatment protocol for clinical mastitis in a New York dairy herd

Abstract

Clinical mastitis (CM) is one of the most economically important diseases in the dairy industry due to its high incidence and associated costs from decreased production, premature culling, mortality, discarded milk, and treatment expense. The industry is in need of mastitis treatment protocols that minimize antibiotic use while having minimal impact on therapeutic success. Pathogen based mastitis therapy has the potential for targeted use of intramammary (IMM) antibiotics, avoiding their overuse, reducing treatment costs, and increasing saleable milk. The objective of this study was to compare the economic impact of blanket IMM therapy with a pathogen based treatment approach. A partial budget analysis was used to compare the differences in the two approaches relative to cost of therapy, time spent in the hospital pen, and milk discarded using measured outcomes from an on-farm clinical trial.