Abstract
The study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of bovine mastitis, isolate mastitis causing bacteria, assess the association of some risk factors, and determine the antibiotic resistance pattern of bacterial isolates in cows in large-scale dairy farms of Northern Ethiopia. A total of 305 lactating and nonlactating cows were included in the present study. The overall prevalence of clinical and subclinical mastitis was 3.6 and 33.8 %, respectively. The quarter level prevalence was 15.4 %; from which, 11.9 and 1.1 % were subclinical form and blind teat, respectively, while the remaining 2.4 % were of clinical form. Staphylococcus aureus accounted for 36 % of the isolates followed by Escherichia coli (27.3 %). Risk factors including age (p < 0.001), parity (p < 0.001), and lactation stage (p = 0.02) showed significant association with the occurrence of mastitis. Higher prevalence was observed in both groups of older cows (i.e., 6–9 years (odds ratio (OR) = 4.65, 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 2.74–7.89) and >9 years (OR = 3.63, 95 % CI = 1.42–9.25)), cows with four to seven calves (OR = 3.39, 95 % CI = 2.06–5.60), and cows in late lactation stage (OR = 3.79, 95 % CI = 1.64–8.75). In multivariable logistic regression analysis, age (p = 0.005) and lactation stage (p = 0.027) showed statistically significant association with the occurrence of mastitis. The antimicrobial susceptibility pattern showed high susceptibility of S. aureus to nalidixic acid (82.4 %) followed by chloramphenicol (58.8 %); however, these species were resistant to the rest of the antimicrobials tested. Highest resistance was observed against clindamycin and ampicillin. Coliform bacteria (E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae) showed resistance to most of the antimicrobials used. Detailed investigation is needed to identify the interplay of managemental and environmental risk factors to design appropriate control measures.
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Acknowledgments
The investigation received financial support from Agazi dairy farms, Mekelle, Northern Ethiopia. The authors are grateful to the material assistance rendered by the College of Veterinary Medicine, Mekelle University. Many thanks are due to large dairy farm owners for their keen interest in the study and cooperation during data collection. We are also thankful to Prof. S.K. Khar for extending his help in commenting the work and checking the manuscript's English.
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Haftu, R., Taddele, H., Gugsa, G. et al. Prevalence, bacterial causes, and antimicrobial susceptibility profile of mastitis isolates from cows in large-scale dairy farms of Northern Ethiopia. Trop Anim Health Prod 44, 1765–1771 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-012-0135-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-012-0135-z