Economics of Lactation Therapy Based on High Somatic Cell Counts

Abstract

Mastitis is an expensive problem. Much of the problem is attributable to subclinical infections, which are moreprevalent and longer lasting than clinical infections. Data from Virginia4 and the linear scoring work of Shook and Saerrian measured subclinical infections indirectly through somatic cell counts (SCC); these analyses showed increasing losses of milk as SCC increased.
New infections can be prevented through hygiene and dry cow therapy. Existing infections can be eliminated from the herd by culling, but that means the loss of a cow. They can be eliminated often by dry cow therapy, but that means that nothing was done about the infection until the lactation was finished. On the other hand, infections sometimes can be cleared by lactation therapy.