Abstract
Three hundred fifty one (195 local zebu and 156 Holstein x local zebu crosses) lactating cows of smallholder farms in Bahir Dar ‘milk shed’ were examined from September 2003 to March 2004 to determine mastitis prevalence, isolate pathogens and identify the role of some potential risk factors. Clinical prevalence was determined through examination of abnormalities of milk, udder or cow. California mastitis test (CMT) was used for determination of subclinical mastitis prevalence. Clinical prevalence at cow level was 3.9% in crossbreds and none in local zebu breeds. Subclinical mastitis at cow level based on CMT was high (34.4%) in crossbreds compared to indigenous zebu (17.9%) (p < 0.05). Quarter subclinical prevalence based on CMT was 17.9% and 4.9% in crossbreds and local zebu, respectively. The pathogens isolated from mastitic milk (CMT positive milk) were coagulase negative staphylococci (CNS), S. aureus, Str. agalactiae, Str. dysgalactiae, Str. uberis, Micrococcus species, C. bovis, A. pyogens, B. cereus, and S. intermedius. Among these, the most frequent isolates were CNS (50%), S. aureus (19%), Str. agalactiae (8%) and Str. dysgalactiae (7%). Among potential risk factors considered, stage of lactation, parity and breed were found to affect the occurrence of mastitis significantly (p < 0.05).
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Asfaw, W., 1997. Livestock development policy in Ethiopia. In: CTA, OAU/IBAR, Ministy of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Swaziland (eds.). Livestock Development Policies in Eastern and Southern Africa. Paper presented in a seminar held in Mbabane, Swaziland, 28 July–August 1997.
Bishi, A. S., 1998. Cross-sectional and longitudinal prospective study of bovine clinical and subclinical mastitis in periurban and urban dairy production systems in the Addis Ababa region, Ethiopia, (Un Published MscThesis, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Addis Ababa University School of Graduate Studies and Freie Universitat, Berlin, Berlin)
Hussein, N., 1999. Cross sectional and longitudinal study of bovine mastitis in urban and peri urban dairy systems in the Addis Ababa region, Ethiopia,(Un Published MSc Thesis, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Addis Ababa University School of Graduate Studies and Freie Universitat, Berlin, Berlin)
Hussein, N., Yehualashet, T., Tilahun, G., 1997. Prevalence of mastitis in different local and exotic breeds of milking cows. Ethiopian Journal of Agricultural Science, 16, 53–60
Kassa, T., Wirtu, G., Tegegne, A., 1999. Survey of mastitis in dairy herds in the Ethiopian central highlands. Ethiopian Journal of Science, 22, 291–301
Kerro, O. and Tareke, F., 2003. Bovine mastitis in selected areas of Southern Ethiopia. Journal of Tropical Animal Health and Production, 35, 197–205
Kivaria, F.M., Noordhuizen, J.P.T.M., Kapaga, A.M., 2004. Risk indicators associated with subclinical mastitis in smallholder dairy cows in Tanzania. Journal of Tropical Animal Health and Production, 36, 581–592
Lemma, M., Kassa, T., Tegegene, A., 2001. Clinically manifested major health problems of crossbred dairy herds in urban and periurban production systems in the central high lands of Ethiopia. Journal of Tropical Animal Health and Production, 33, 85–89
Mungube E. O., Tenhagen B.A., Regassa F., Kyule M. N., Shiferaw Y., Kassa T., Baumann M. P. O. 2005. Reduced Milk Production in Udder Quarters with Subclinical Mastitis and Associated Economic Losses in Crossbred Dairy Cows in Ethiopia. Journal of Tropical Animal Health and Production, 37, 1573–7438
Quinn, P. J., Carter, M. E., Markey, B. K., Carter, G. R., 1999. Clinical Veterinary Microbiology. London: Mosby International Limited
Sargeant, J. M., Scott, M. M., Leslie, K. E., Ireland, Bashiri, M. J. A., 1998. Clinical mastitis in dairy cattle in Ontario: frequency of occurrence and bacteriological isolates. Canadian Veterinary Journal, 39, 33–38
Schultz, M. M., 1994. Genetic evaluation of somatic cell score for United States dairy cattle. Journal of Dairy Science, 77, 2113 – 2129
Shpigel, N. Y., Winkler, M., Ziv, G., Saran, A., 1998. Clinical bacteriological and epidemiological aspects of clinical mastitis in Israel dairy herds. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 35, 1 – 9
Taponen, S., Koort J., Björkroth, J., Saloniemi, H., Pyörälä, S. 2007. Bovine intramammary infections caused by coagulase negative staphylococci may persist through out lactation according to amplified fragment length polymorphism based analysis. J. Dairy Sci., 90, 3301–3307
Thrusfield, M., 1995. Veterinary Epidemiology, 2nd ed. (Black well science Ltd., London), 182–198
Workineh S., Bayleyegne M., Mekonnen H., and Potgieter L. N. D., 2002. Prevalence and etiology of mastitis in cows from two major Ethiopian dairies. Journal of Tropical Animal Health and Production, 34, 19–25
Zhang, S and Maddox, C.W, 2000. Cytotoxic Activity of Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci in Bovine Mastitis. Infect Immun, 68, 1102–1108.
Acknowledgement
The authors’ gratefully acknowledge the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Addis Ababa University, and Amhara Region Agricultural Research Institute (ARARI) for funding the research project. We greatly appreciate farmers in the study area for their all round participation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Almaw, G., Zerihun, A. & Asfaw, Y. Bovine mastitis and its association with selected risk factors in smallholder dairy farms in and around Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Trop Anim Health Prod 40, 427–432 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-007-9115-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-007-9115-0