Effect of usage of TANUCHEK SCC kit for screening of mastitis in dairy cows

Introduction

Bovine mastitis is considered to be one of the major economically important disease in dairy cows. Regular screening of dairy cows for sub-clinical mastitis is better to prevent and combat mastitis at an early stage. Mastitis defined as inflammation of mammary gland parenchyma, which is caused by bacteria and its toxins (Sharma et al., 2006) [4] . Mastitis is characterized by physical, chemical and bacteriological changes in the milk and pathological changes in the glandular tissue of the udder (Sharma, 2007) [5] . Mastiguard, the kit developed at TRPVB, TANUVAS contains TANUCHEK SCC Kit and Teat-protect a germicidal spray that can be used by the farmers to control mastitis.

Materials and Methods

Demonstration and Hands on training on the use of Mastiguard kit was given to 20 dairy farmers from five blocks of Tirupur district, Tamil Nadu, India. Out of the hundred farmers, twenty farmers were selected and the dairy cows in their farms were selected for the study. Now, a total of 320 milk samples were collected from 80 dairy cows (all four quarters) and screened for clinical and sub-clinical bovine mastitis. Udder and teats were cleaned with water and KMnO4 solution and left to dry and the first three streams were discarded and then 2 ml of milk from each quarter were collected in sterile containers and screened for bovine mastitis, Based on the colour card given in the TANUCHEK SCC Kit the Somatic cell count was assessed as per the guidelines prescribed. According to the results interpreted as positive for clinical and sub-clinical bovine mastitis using TANUCHECK SCC kit, the farmers were advised to use the Teat-Protect germicidal spray after milking. After one month interval the same dairy cows were tested with TANUCHEK SCC Kit and the impact of the Teat-Protect germicidal spray was analysed. Data on number of positive cases (quarter-wise) was recorded as per standards prescribed in Table 1.

Results and Discussion

Out of 320 milk samples collected and screened with TANUCHEK SCC Kit, 75 milk samples were identified as positive for sub-clinical mastitis (23.43%) and 61 milk samples for clinical mastitis (19.06%) based on the somatic cell count (Table 1 andTable 2). The owners of the bovine mastitis affected dairy cows were instructed to follow the proper control measures such as, using Teat-Protect germicidal spry after milking twice daily. After one month interval the same dairy cows were tested with TANUCHEK SCC Kit and the impact of the Teat-Protect germicidal spray was recorded. Now, the 320 milk samples Collected from the dairy cows treated with Teat-Protect germicidal spray showed 38 samples to be positive for sub clinical mastitis (11.87%) and 19 samples to be positive for clinical mastitis (5.62%) (Table 3). Studies reported by Devi et al. (1997) [1] showed that, 75.3% Sub clinical bovine mastitis seen commonly in many dairy animals in India. California mastitis test (CMT) kit also records clinical and sub clinical mastitis using somatic cell count is another field level kit that can be used by the farmers. Karimuribo et al.

(2008) [2] reported that the percent prevalence of sub-clinical mastitis in dairy cows were 75.9 when assessed by the CMT and 43.8 when assessed by culture. Khan and Muhammad (2005) [3] reported that prevalence of clinical and subclinical mastitis was higher in hind quarters than forequarters and among hind quarters, left hindquarters were more susceptible than the right. This study shows that Mastiguard containing TANUCHEK SCC KIT and Teat Protect spray is an effective and user friendly farm level kit that can be suggested to the farmers to control bovine mastitis effectively.

Summary

TANUCHEK SCC Kit is helpful to identity the mastitis in early stage based on the somatic cell count in milk. Proper udder hygiene and regular screening with TANUCHEK SCC Kit is the way to curtail the mastitis in dairy farm.

References

1. Devi BK, Shukla PC, Bagherwal RK. Incidence of subclinical mastitis in cows. Indian J Dairy Sci. 1997;50:477-478.
2. Karimuribo ED, Fitzpatrick JL, Swai ES, Bell C, Bryant MJ, Ogden NH, et al. Prevalence of subclinical mastitis and associated risk factors in smallholder dairy cows in Tanzania. Vet Rec. 2008;163:16-21.
3. Khan AZ, Muhammad G. Quarter-wise comparative prevalence of mastitis in buffaloes and cross-bred cows. Pak Vet J. 2005;25(1):9-12.
4. Sharma N, Gautam A, Upadhyay SR, Hussain K, Soodan JS, Gupta SK. Role of antioxidants in udder health: a review. Indian J Field Vet. 2006;2(1):73-76.
5. Sharma N. Alternative approach to control intramammary infection in dairy cows: a review. Asian J Anim Vet Adv. 2007;2(2):50-62.