An update on evidence-based selective dry cow therapy protocols

National Mastitis Council (NMC) plowed new ground in early February by offering an in-person and virtual option for NMC members to attend the 61st NMC Annual Meeting. Members on their computers, tablets and mobile phones joined the more than 200 in-person attendees who gathered in San Diego, California, USA. Combining the in-person option with the virtual option yielded a hybrid event that attracted more than 350 NMC members from 31 U.S. states, five Canadian provinces and 26 countries. NMC Annual Meeting presentations ranged from consumer engagement to small ruminant milkability to gut microbial health to genetics to mitigating mastitis when using recycled manure solids.

The 33rd British Mastitis Conference was held on 10 November 2021, returning to its usual venue in Worcester following the virtual conference in 2020 due to the Covid 19 pandemic. The workshop on mastitis data management and control with emphasis on machine milking was presented by James Breen and Ian Ohnstad, on the previous day.

History of overtreatment – In a large German study from 2019 – conducted before resistance testing became mandatory before the use of critical antibiotic agents in veterinary medicine in Germany – mastitis therapy in Germany was described based on the responses of 499 surveyed farmers/milkers/herd managers.