Staphylococcus aureus remains one of the most common causative agents of bovine mastitis because of its pathogenicity, contagiousness, capability to
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In automatic milking systems, sensors are used to find sick cows and prevent bad milk to end up in the bulk tank. The objective this project was to predict somatic cell counts and clots in milk, two important and well established indicators of udder health and mastitis.
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At dry off, the mammary gland of the early dry cow undergoes a multitude of morphologic, immunologic, metabolic, and biochemical alterations known as mammary gland involution. During involution, the mammary gland is vulnerable to bacterial infection, particularly if milk leakage occurs. Increased risk of milk leakage and infection are associated with high milk production at dry off. Therefore, as advances in dairy cow management and fertility continue to increase milk production- more cows will be at risk for infection during early mammary involution. However, much remains unknown about optimizing mammary involution.
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Non-aureus staphylococci (NAS) have become the most prevalent cause of intramammary infections (IMI) in dairy cows in most parts of the world. The current body of literature on IMI caused by NAS has reported debatable and contradictory conclusions on their relevance for udder health and milk production. The aims of this thesis were to precisely estimate the impact of NAS IMI on somatic cell count (SCC) and milk yield (MY) at the quarter-level.
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Selective dry cow therapy (SDCT), in which only infected quarters/cows are treated with antimicrobials, constitutes an alternative to blanket dry cow therapy (BDCT) where all quarters of all cows at dry off receive antimicrobials, regardless of their infection status, for a more judicious use of antimicrobials. The objective of this thesis was to shed more light on targeted antimicrobial treatment decisions of infected quarters of cows at dry-off.
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Hock injuries are a common injury in dairy cows that are housed indoors for the greater part of the year. Oftentimes, the lesions indicate inadequate stall or cubicle design in dairy barns. The presence and severity of hock lesions are associated with lameness and other disorders of the limb, which is why most welfare evaluations target hock lesion reductions to improve cow welfare. It is thought that hock lesions may also be associated with mastitis and reduced milk yield. In order to better understand the association between hock lesions and the development of Staphylococcus aureus mastitis, an undergraduate student from the University of Vermont (UVM), US headed-up a case study within the student-run herd as a senior thesis project with the help of her advisor Dr. John Barlow and his graduate students. Veterinarian and UVM PhD student Caitlin Jeffrey presented the findings at the National Mastitis Council Annual Meeting, held in February of this year.
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The increased use of automatic milking systems (AMS) in combination with modern sensor and big data technologies enables a transformation
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Bovine mastitis is classically treated with antibiotics with the risk of antimicrobial resistance emergence.
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Mastitis is one the most common and costly diseases of dairy cattle, hence widely studied globally. It is the inflammation of one or more quarters of the mammary glands, mostly caused by various microorganisms. Based on whether gross changes in milk (such as watery, serous, or purulent milk, presence of clots, flakes, or blood), gross changes in the udder (such as painful or inflamed udder) and animal are seen or not, mastitis is categorized either into clinical or subclinical. With the introduction of Automatic Milking Systems (AMS), the sensors can measure milk parameters every time the cow goes for milking.
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the most important threats to human and animal health. There are indications of a pending “post-antibiotic era” where AMR will cause 10 million human deaths per year globally by 2050 if no serious action is taken (O’Neill, 2016).
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