Teat and udder health management practices for successful dairy farming in India
Livestock sector is an indispensable component of human living which supports the livelihood of 70% of the rural poor’s globally. Livestock and livestock products are estimated to make up over 40% of total agricultural output in industrialized nations and about 30% in developing nations. In order to meet up the demands of the growing human population, emphasis on increasing production has considerably increased over the last few decades and it continues. Milk production is expected to increase to 1043 million tonnes by 2050 and global farm animal production is expected to double by 2050 with most of this increase taking place in the developing world. All this has led to commercialization of the livestock sector with more herd/flock size which has ultimately paved way for animal welfare issues, managemental problems and environmental concerns. Precision dairy farming is emerging as a tool to maintain the required level of production and at the same time address to a large extent the concerns that arise.
Teat and udder health are increasingly important for dairy producers and any disease condition involving udder or teat ultimately affects the productivity and the farmer’s economy. Unscientific milking and management practices are the main cause for teat and udder affections and cause a great loss to the poor farmers. The dairy farmers are less aware about clean milk production and teat or udder health. Further, they also do not pay enough attention on udder care and sometimes even mishandle the udder which always leads to teat and udder affections. For successful dairy farming practice also ensures that the milk is produced by healthy animals in a manner that is sustainable and responsible from the animal welfare, milking hygiene, nutrition in term of feed and water, social, economic and environmental perspectives. The udder and teats are vulnerable to external trauma or injury because of their anatomical location, increase in size of udder and teats during lactation, faulty methods of milking, repeated trauma to the teat mucosa, injury by teeth of calves, accidentally stepped on teat, paralysis resulting from metabolic disturbances at parturition. Newly introduced cow should be milked separately and should be screened through California Mastitis Test (CMT). Teat endoscopy is an excellent diagnostic procedure for covered teat injuries. Minimal invasive surgical therapy with the help of teat endoscopy. Theloscopy requires minimum time for giving accurate diagnosis about the internal teat injuries. By using theloscopy milk flow disorder can be diagnosed easily and precisely. It allows to treat injuries according to a précised diagnosis and to monitor the treatment. Milk flow disorders/disturbances are the main indication for ultrasound imaging (ultrasonogrphy) of the mammary gland in ruminants and particularly the teat is an important application. Nowadays B-mode ultrasonography is used extensively as a safe and non-invasive diagnostic technique as a method of choice which is minimally invasive surgery help the surgeon to make the best decision. Echography of the mammary gland parenchyma in ruminants is performed primarily through the direct contact technique (transcutaneous echography) with a low-frequency linear, sector or convex transducer (3.5–5 MHz) and horizontal scanning. Examination of the teat is done primarily through the water bath technique and vertical scanning. A high quality image can be achieved by using a high frequency probe (at least 7.5 MHz). It is also useful for monitoring the healing process after surgical removal of proliferative tissue. Additionally, it aids in the diagnosis of mastitis and thus promotes efficient therapy.
Milk flow disorders are a central problem in the field of udder health. Teats of milked farm animals are parts of the udder, serving the role of both a valve regulating milk outflow as well as that of a natural barrier for exogenous infections, affecting the quality traits of milk. It give rise to different kinds of mastitis, which consequently leads to a loss in milk production, detrimental changes to the milk components and raw milk quality, increased costs for the treatment of the animal, early culling, and, hence, a negative economic impact. The disease conditions of teats and udder not only cause discomfort to the animals with painful milking but also make teats and udder prone to mastitis. Mastitis is perhaps the costliest disease of dairy cattle accounting for production losses of 6053.21crores per annum in India and 2 billion dollars annually in United States. The disease impact is very serious as it affects 50% dairy herd population in India. Sub-Clinical mastitis is reported to account for 76.55% of total losses due to mastitis in India. It has been estimated that mastitis, costs about 200 US dollars per cow per occurrence in European dairy herds. The estimated loss of milk per cow per one lactation cycle (One year) is 70% of the total losses and the cost of cows lost due to premature culling is 14%, while the cost of milk downgraded/ discarded due to mastitis has been estimated to be 7% and the cost incurred on medical treatment and other veterinary expenses amount to 8%, of the total losses, reported worldwide. Mastitis is a disease complex that assumes highest clinical and economic significance in milch animals particularly medium to high yielding dairy cattle, Sheep and Goats, usually in and around periparturient period and occasionally during mid lactation. The disease is one that of an intramammary infection affecting milk synthesizing alveolar tissue and is clinically manifested by gross abnormality of milk associated with pathological changes of udder such as pain, udder edema, fibrosis, the extent depending on the severity of infection. While Clinical mastitis is always associated with observable and noticeable symptoms, Sub-clinical mastitis remains to be an obscure and latent form of this disease that poses more serious economic concern to the dairy farming sector, as the incidence of Sub-clinical mastitis is much higher in a dairy herd than the clinical one. Sub-clinical mastitis is a hidden infection that remains unnoticed by the farmers as well as the clinicians, except that there is a progressive fall in milk production. According to researchers 5-15% of Sub-clinical mastitis cases are apt to transform into clinical mastitis. The etiological basis of the disease is on a continuous changing spree, given the fact that every now and then new microbial species are being incriminated in bovine mastitis. Round about 150 bacterial Spp. are reported to have been isolated from bovine mastitic udders over past 3 decades. As of today, based on the type of intramammary infection the disease can be broadly classified into four types viz Bacterial mastitis; Mycotic/Fungal/algal mastitis; Viral mastitis and mycoplasmal and Nocardial mastitis. The treatment of bovine mastitis in peak lactating phase is a weak spot and very often fails with conventional antibiotics because of continuous drainage during milking, absence of immunocompetance of the affected udder and milk losses due to withdrawal. The immediate prompt treatment has so far been considered the only effective way to avoid much pathological damage to the udder tissue. In our experience Chloramphenicol proved to be highly effective than Gentamicin, Enrofloxacin and Amoxycillin in inducing bacteriological elimination in Gram negative mastitis in cows but milk withdrawal period of 3 days post treatment is necessary, because the drug is deleterious to consumer health. The use of Amoxicillin along with suicide inhibitors like Tazobactum is 80% effective in the treatment of mastitis while some have shown that Penicillin and Tazobactum provide increased spectrum of activity in clinical mastitis. Cefquinome given intramammary along with ascorbic acid @20gm intramuscularly proved effective in eliminating sub-clinical intramammary infection. Intramammary route alone during lactation, due to presence of pus and milk does not allow the drug to be diffused. Albeit the drug sensitivity test finds no substitute to replace it under the present scenario, Veterinary clinicians in several countries use drugs to treat mastitis based on their current clinical experience without asking for antibiotic sensitivity test. However it has to be born in mind by a practicing clinician that unsatisfactory therapeutic result over a period of 5 days in a newly mastitic cow warrants a drug sensitivity test. In our specific Indian conditions we have found that Gentamicin and fluoroquinolones (Ciprofloxacin and Enrofloxacin) are the drugs with good clinical efficacy in Gram negative mastitis; however cases complicated with Gram positive agents require one more antibiotic to be incorporated which is pharmacologically active against Gram positive microbes. The Chloramphenicol was most effective antibiotic in eliminating Gram negative mastitogens within a period of 5-7 days in clinical cases. However, having been reported to be toxic for human consumers and a cause of aplastic anemia the drug has little if any, application in food animals. The same is the story of Tiamulin which has excellent efficacy in Gram positive mastitis particularly that due to Mycoplasma bovis but remains contraindicated in food animals. Nowadays antibiotics such as Ceftiofur finds a relevant place in the treatment of mastitis, since it is biosafe for human consumer health and is currently effective against both Gram positive and negative mastitis causal agents. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics and the practice of often switching on to other ones is for sure going to offer a tough time to the clinician to completely treat the case. The microbial resistance developed thus will have repercussions to withstand. Observance of a proper withdrawal period to allow the drug to achieve a minimal permissible level (MPL) in the animal tissue and milk is of paramount importance, since the milk during and post treatment enters human food chain. A withdrawal time of 72 hours with respect to conventional antibiotics is suggested though long acting drugs such as Ceftizidime and Oxytetracycline LA may require a longer withdrawal time. Under field conditions, beta-lactams and macrolides are still widely used via the intramuscular route. Several attempts are made and the reports have been published regarding the role of certain natural herbal extracts in the treatment of mastitis but to date Phytotherapy has not proved to be a substitute or alternative to antibiotics in its clinical management. However, many such herbal origin drugs have been used successfully as adjuvant or conjunctional treatment to antibiotics and the success of bacterial elimination and suppression of the clinical udder pathology has been reported to be fastidious in some cases. Phytotherapy or the herbal remedies are assuming pertinence in recent years in view of the development of resistance to antibiotics and persistence of drug residues in the milk. However the herbal derivatives as gel are more often used for topical application. Other topical applications of soothing, non-irritant herbal gels derived from Cedrus deodara , Curcuma longa, Glycyrrhiza glabra and Eucalyptus globulus are effective in the treatment and prophylaxis of Sub-clinical mastitis. The antibacterial and immunomodulatory propensity of Ocimum sanctum leaf extract, reduced somatic cell count and total blood count significantly in Sub-clinical mastitis. Likewise, Nisin, an antimicrobial polypeptide produced by Lactococcus lactis offered higher cure rate of S. aureus mastitis in cows than Gentamicin. However, phytotherapy alone is not widely acceptable to replace antibiotics in the mastitis cure. These are mostly used concomitantly with antibiotics. The use of bacteriophage particularly against S. aureus has been researched extensively but only with low or moderate therapeutic success in clinical mastitis. The ability of lytic S. aureus bacteriophage K is poor in eliminating S. aureus intramammary infection. However it offers strong prophylaxis in healthy quarters as the phage is excreted in milk and the somatic cell count rises so that phagocytic potential of the udder increases to combat infection. The prophylactic and therapeutic mastitis vaccine results are encouraging according to some researchers though others having performed exhaustive work in this domain did not discover any relevant correlation between the clinical recoveries and the vaccination trials.
Prevention and Control Strategy (Integrated Mastitis control programme) includes:
- Sanitization and udder hygiene: management of mastitis depends on reducing the exposure of teat ends to pathogens and increasing the resistance of cows to infection. This includes udder hygiene, environmental hygiene and sanitization measures for milker’s hands or milking machines. Dissemination and proliferation of pathogenic microbes is brought well under control by proper and regular disposal of excreta, disinfection of housing premises and sanitization of cow’s udders and milker’s hands or the milking machines prior to use. Pre-milking teat dip reduces infections with environmental microorganism mastitis caused by Coliforms and contagious mastitis due to S. aureus by about 50%. Prior and post milking teat dips with isopropyl alcohol, iodophor solution containing 1% available iodine or hypochlorite solution, Chlorhexidine in 0.5% to 1% polyvenylpyrrolidine solution and1% sodium hypochlorite solution is effective.
- Milking order and hygienic storage condition: Thumb rule is to milk primiparous cows’ first and multiparous cows later. Among these healthy cows are to be milked first and mastitic cows milked at last. Hind quarter milking should preferably follow fore quarter milking. For successful dairy farming practice milk should be harvested and stored under hygienic conditions. Equipment used to harvest, and store milk should be suitable, well maintained and ensure milking routines do not injure the animals or introduce contaminants into milk. Ensure milk storage equipment is cleaned and for bulk milk collection minimize spoilage of milk after harvesting Refrigerate and store milk under hygienic conditions.
- Lactation Cow therapy: Sub-clinically mastitic cows are subjected to short term treatment with effective antibiotics at least for 3-5 days preferably through intramammary route, though clinical mastitis might have longer treatment duration. Amoxycillin, Erythromycin, Cloxacillin, Pirlimicin and Cephalonium infusions offer substantiative treatment results in sub-clinical mastitis. It is imperative to undertake udder status screening through various indirect tests and bacteriological culture on paired milk samples from every quarter of individual cows of a lactating herd at least three to four times a year. This would guide in designing future control practices. In larger herds’ bulk tank SCC and culture tests can be performed.
- Dry Cow Therapy: Use of intramammary infusions of long acting antibiotics on drying off is of paramount importance in minimizing the incidence of mastitis at freshening. Drugs of choice include Benzathine penicillin, Benzathine cloxacillin, Benzathine cephapirin, Novobiocin and sustained release formulations of Eythromycin and penicillin. Teat sealing with acrylic latex can also be done by dipping teats into the solution. Tilmicosin intramammary infusion has successfully eliminated aureus.
- Maintenance of optimum udder immunity: Udder’s local defense system, involving cellular reaction to infectious agents and enzyme as well as non-enzyme-based antioxidant system requires activation. Activation and interplay of these factors is largely dependent on nutritional status of the animal. Dietary/ancillary supplementation of micro elements such as, Zinc, Copper, Cobalt, Iron, Manganese, Cromium and Selenium is essentially required for optimization of udder immunity. Micronutrients such as Beta-carotene, Vitamin A, C and E, lactoferrins, L-histidine provide enhanced immunity and antioxidative effect, which prevent alveolar tissue degeneration. Therefore, during lactation, it is necessary that a vulnerable cow should have normal blood levels of all these nutrients.
- Autogenous mastitis vaccine: A successful vaccination programme for mastitis must furnish one of three goals: a) Elimination of chronic intramammary infections, b) prevention of new intramammary infections, c) reduction of the incidence or severity of new intramammary infections. Mastitis bacterins are prepared from the prevalent mastitogenic bacteria such as aureus or E.coli and aluminium hydroxide gel is used as a vehicle. The commercial bacterins may not contain the mastitis strains endemic to a particular dairy herd. Generally, mastitis vaccines are not accepted as prophylactic substitute and that vaccines should be seen as an adjunct to supplement other effective control practices.
- Breeding for resistance to mastitis: Many criteria for breeding dairy cows are positively correlated with clinical and subclinical mastitis, suggesting that new approaches may be required to reduce mastitis while selecting for high milk production. Selection indices have recently included health-related traits, including longevity. The incorporation of somatic cell count (SCC) and clinical mastitis records in selection of dairy cattle for breeding has the potential to reduce mastitis. It is likely that marker-assisted selection of cattle for breeding may be exploited in future, and breeding for mastitis resistance may become easier with new genomic technologies. Advances in the ability to produce transgenic animals make it likely that such animals will become important components of animal farming in future. Genetic selection for mastitis is not possible without records of clinical mastitis, subclinical mastitis, type traits associated with teat and udder health, and markers of immunity relevant to the defense of the udder.
- Gene therapy: The goal of this novel tool is to enhance mastitis resistance of dairy cows by enabling the cells of the mammary gland to secrete additional antibacterial proteins. A mouse model has been shown to produce varying levels of lysostaphin in their milk. This protein is believed to have potent anti-staphylococcal activity and its secretion into milk confers substantial resistance to aureus mastitis. Lysostaphin is produced by nonpathogenic cousin strain of S. aureus. Additional antibacterial proteins are being sought that can complement lysostaphin. A potential benefit of transgenic application of antibacterial proteins is the sparing of use of antibiotics in successful dairy farming practices.
Congenital known at the time of first calving but acquired surgical conditions can affect any stage of lactation of udder and teats can be grouped into three main categories: I). Conditions of epithelial surface of udder and teats include supernumerary teats/extra teats, bovine ulcerative mammitis/ sore teats, udder and teat abscess, teat lacerations and fistulae. II). Conditions of glands and tea cistern or canal include lactoliths/milk stones, teat canal polyp, teat spider, fibrosis of teat canal, tumour of mammary gland. III). Conditions of teat sphincter includes teat stenosis/hard milker, teat leaker/free milker, blind teats. Congenital aberrations in the mammary gland of the cows include many structural defects; however, the only one of significance is supernumerary teats. Supernumerary teats may be located on the udder behind the posterior teats, between the front and hind teats, or attached to either the front or hind teats. Congenital condition is usually associated with improper development of the teat cistern or teat canal. Whereas acquired obstructions are caused by injury, tumour or infections. The resulting membrane, obstructing the milk flow, is either thin or thick, and is located high at the base of the teat or lower down in the cistern. Palpation reveals fluctuating milk above the obstruction, but milking is not possible. In case of congenital cases with improper development of the teat cistern, it may be impossible to feel the milk pocket. Treatment of such cases is not recommended, the quarter is usually allowed to atrophy and become non-functional. If the pocket of milk can be palpated, prognosis is usually considered good to favourable. In teat laceration and fistulae condition is mostly observed in those animals that have long teats and pendulous udder. When animal tries to jump over the barbed wire or pass through the thorny bushes, their teat gets teared due to laceration of skin and muscles. If this laceration is deeper, then even teat canal gets opened and milk will start flowing through the teared portion. This condition is called as teat fistula. The cases of teat fistula are considered as emergency because any delay in repair of such teat will cause development of mastitis or necrosis of the teat. For repair of such teat, all aseptic precautions should be taken into considerations. A full coverage of systematic antibiotic is required and for proper drainage Larson’s teat plug is used. Different suture techniques are used to repair the teat fistula but double layer simple continuous suturing with Polyglycolic Acid (PGA) 3-0 and in between simple vertical mattress simple interrupted suturing of skin with nylon 1-0 is found suitable for repair of teat fistula. Teat stenosis/Contracted sphincter or teat orifice “hard milker” may be congenital in origin or may be acquired because of trauma to the end of the teat. There is a small stream of milk, and prolonged milking time. Teat stenosis resulting from mucosal lesions in the region of the streak canal or Furstenberg’s rosette may be successfully treated via theloresectoscopy. Stenosis of streak canal without acute inflammation can be treated successfully by incising the sphincter in three directions with teat knife, Bard parker blade No.11, Udall’s teat knife, McLean teat knife. Teat leaker/Free milker is just reverse of teat stenosis. It can be due to injury or relaxation of teat sphincter. In this case milk will go on leaking and sometimes infection may gain entry leading to mastitis. This condition is treated by injection of 0.25 ml of Lugol’s iodine around the orifice or scarification and suturing with one or two stitches with monofilament nylon. Blind teats may be congenital or acquired due to any trauma near the teat sphincter. Such cases generally reported just after parturition on palpation milk thrill found in teat cistern on pressing milk passed backward toward milk udder cistern. Imperforated teat treated by 15 gauze needle, after creating opening, it is further dilated using hugs teat tumour extractor, milk canula fixed for 24 hour after that frequent milking advised at 4 to 6 hours intervals to prevent adhesion. Administration of proper antibiotics is done for a minimum period of 3-5 days. Lactolith/milk stone is a condition of gland and teat cistern or canal. They are formed into the teat canal when the milk is rich in minerals and salty in taste due to super saturation of salts. The stone moves freely in teat canal and hinder the milk flow, if large in size. They usually get washed out along with ilk but if large in size then it can be crushed with small forceps or cutting the sphincter with Litchy teat knife or teat bistouries and milked out. Teat canal polyp are small pea sized growths attached to the wall of teat canal. The polyps hinder the milking process and sometimes even block the passage of teat canal. Teat polyps can easily take out by Huges teat tumour extractor. If its location is above the teat canal thelotomy is the best method for resection of excessive tissue. Postoperative gentamicine and prednisolone infusion for five consecutive days found suitable to check infection as well as helpful in checking further growth of the polyp. Supernumerary or extra teats are often seen on the posterior surface of udder and in-between the teat. They may be functional or non-functional, functional activity can be determined only after parturition of the animal. They frequently interfere with free milking process and are objectionable on show animals. Surgical removals of supernumerary teats are best in young animals and in case of older cow in dry condition. Surgery performed under local infiltration analgesia with two elliptical incisions at the junctions of teat and udder and skin wound closed with interrupted suture using non-absorbable suture material. In bovine ulcerative mammitis (sore teats), teats become painful due to presence of crakes, traumatic injuries, lesions due to disease conditions such as pox, Foot and Mouth Disease etc. If these lesions are not treated well in time, the animal will not allow touching the affected teat for milking. These lesions become ulcers in due course of time and the condition are then known as bovine ulcerative mammitis. Ulcerative thelitis is a disease affecting primarily the high-yielding primiparous graded Murrah milch buffaloes and causing serious economic losses to the farmers. The disease is characterized by acute inflammation of one or more teats with subsequent thickening, narrowing or closure of teat canal leading to incomplete drainage of milk. The quality of milk appears to be normal unlike in clinical mastitis. This is followed by ulceration, focal necrosis, and either partial or complete sloughing off the affected teat. Oozing of blood from injured teat causes contamination of milk while milking thereby making it unfit for human consumption. In such cases, sterilized teat siphon should be used to drain the milk out. For treatment of such painful lesions, the wound should be washed with light potassium permanganate solution and then soothing preparation such as iodized glycerin, bismuth iodoform paraffin paste, zinc oxide ointment or antiseptic dressing with soothing emollient may be continued till the complete healing of the lesion occurs. Healing may be delayed due to the trauma of milking and secondary bacterial infections. Similar signs were reported by many workers in ulcerative mammillitis of cows. As primiparous animals were most commonly affected with this condition, there is lot of impact on milk production due to loss of teats, resulting in great economic loss to the farmers.
Hematomas (subcutaneous, mixed and parenchymatous) of the udder are considered as inflected by the cow itself or by external trauma from butting or kicking by other cows. Udder abscesses may appear anywhere in the mammary tissue or adjacent to the glands. In udder and teat abscess, abscess formation occurs more often on the udder than the teat, mastitis especially due to resistant microbes suddenly develop abscessation on side of affected udder. Udder abscesses are clinically manifested either in a form of chronic suppurative mastitis caused by the common environmental pathogens or in a circumscribed localized swelling anywhere of the udder and most commonly seated on craniolateral and posterior aspects of the udder quarters. Such cases can easily be diagnosed by exploratory puncture of the swollen part which revealed the presence of pus and necrotic tissues. The abscess cavity is opened for complete drainage of pus. After drainage of the pus, the cavity is dressed in tincture iodine followed by application of soothing agents until obliteration of abscess cavity. In case of necrosis of teat or udder, amputation of teat or affected quarter is recommended followed by daily dressing till complete healing of wound occurs. Treatment by a stab incision was performed on the lateral aspect of affected quarters and complete evacuation of the contents was performed in chronic suppurative form, whereas the localized form was treated like those elsewhere in the body.
Dr Md Moin Ansari
Associate Professor/Senior Scientist
Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry
SKUAST K, Shalimar-190025. Jammu & Kashmir
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