Efficacy of Extended Therapy of Staphylococcus aureus with Intramammary Cefuroxime

Abstract

Staphyloccocus aureus is a major pathogen causing intramammary infection in dairy cattle. Antibiotic therapy of S. aureus during lactation results in cure rates of between 4 and 92%. The cure rate is influenced by age of cow, stage of lactation, SCC, duration of infection, front vs. rear glands, number of quarters, bacterial colony counts and resistance to penicillin. Increasing the duration of therapy increases the cure rate. For example, bacteriological cure rates of S. aureus of 6%, 56% and 86% were achieved following 0, 2 or 8 intramammary treatments with the lincosamide pirlimycin. The current study aimed to assess the efficacy of extended therapy of S. aureus with the second generation cephalosporin, cefuroxime.