The use of chromogenic culture media for on-farm identification of milk pathogens associated with mastitis in dairy cows

Abstract

Clinical mastitis is a highly prevalent and costly disease to the dairy industry. In fact, mastitis is the major cause of antibiotic use in dairy herds and represents a large portion of animal health expenses. Selective treatment based on on-farm culture of milk pathogens decreased antibiotic usage by 50% without impairing health and production traits. However, increasing the range of microorganisms to be identified often reduces accuracy for observers without microbiological training. Chromogenic culture media (CCM) has been used for pathogen identification in human and animal specimens. Chromogenic culture media allows for rapid and accurate characterization of a broad spectrum of microorganisms based on media selectivity and color change. Hence, the objectives were to develop an on-farm CCM system for identification of milk pathogens associated with clinical mastitis (Accumast). Accuracy of Accumast was evaluated based on results from Cornell Quality Milk Production Services and identification of cultured pathogens using 16S rRNA sequencing.