Cephalosporin in Mastitis Therapy

Abstract

The New York State Mastitis Control Program is operating under the Department of Large Animal Medicine, Obstetrics and Surgery of the New York State Veterinary College at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. The program furnishes dairymen of New York State diagnostic services relating to prevention, detection, treatment and control of bovine mastitis on both a herd and individual cow basis. Mastitis control personnel visit the dairies, ex-amine the cows physically for udder health and ab-normal milk, collect milk samples for bacteriological culturing, and evaluate milking machinery, milking practices and management as it would apply to the production of quality milk. These services are offered to the dairymen in conjunction with their practicing veterinarian, and results of the surveys are returned to the practitioner for application.

At the request of a practicing veterinarian a mastitis survey was conducted on a 96 cow dairy that had a history of repeatedly exceeding the United States Public Health Service standards for bulk tank leucocyte count in milk produced and sold (1,500,000 WBC/ml). The veterinarian and owner had been able to control the leucocyte count below the tolerance level on occasion by physically examining and treating cows positive to the strip plate and California Mastitis Test. The veterinarian felt however that mastitis was not being controlled, rather just the most obvious cases were being discovered and either treated or excluded from the milk being sold.

The initial Mastitis Survey on the entire dairy of 96 cows on March 13, 1973, showed the following:

[Table 1]

Milking equipment was examined. The vacuum pump and line were found adequate to operate six milking machines and a milk transfer station. Milking machines were approximately 25 years old and .functioning satisfactorily.

The farm is family owned, milking is done by family members, but not always the same people at every milking. The herd is not on a production testing program but the herd average would be estimated at not over 10,000 lbs. milk/cow/year. Most dairy replacements are home raised. Teat dipping after milking to control infection spread and routine dry cow mastitis therapy were not being practiced.

Upon receiving the result of the mastitis survey with the recommendation to treat one or more quarters of 70 of the 96 cows, the owner was reluctant to begin such a drastic solution and with the exception of treating visibly clinical mastitis further action was postponed.

In June of 1973 the owner agreed to have all cows treated with Sodium Cephapirin Intramammary Infusion (Bristol Laboratories), which was currently the subject of a clinical efficacy study designed to sup-port a New Animal Drug Application to be submitted to the Food and Drug Administration by the sponsoring company.