Prevent Summer Mastitis This Year

It should come as no surprise that of all seasons of the year, summer, tends to be the most difficult in terms of mastitis control for most dairy producers.  Typically, SCCs start to rise in late May, and continue through September, when they finally start to decline.  Correlating to this rise, is a significant increase in clinical cases of mastitis.  

Summer weather provides a host of factors allowing mastitis to flourish during these four months of the year.  However, stress and the simply higher number of total bacteria present are the major factors contributing to summer increases in SCC and mastitis.  

Many times due to the heat, cows are physically more stressed during the summer.  Research has shown that high levels of stress hormones interfere with the immune system’s ability to destroy bacteria.  Somatic cells enter the udder as part of the immune response.  When somatic cells are under the depressing effect of stress hormones, they cannot function fully to protect against mastitis-causing organisms, and thus full-blown clinical cases of mastitis typically increase.

Secondly, because of the added heat and moisture of summer, bacteria can thrive, and cause more problems during this time of year.  According to Dr. Arlen Mills, Extension Veterinarian in Pennsylvania, bacteria need food, water, and heat to multiply and flourish. If we can remove any one of these three necessities of life for the bacteria, we can keep them in check. If all three factors are present in ample supply, bacteria numbers will escalate to high levels. This large bacteria population provides many more chances to attack and perhaps infect the udder tissue.  The resulting SCC is a body count of those cells that have been sacrificed in the attempt to ward off or destroy the attacking bacteria. 

Click here for more information to help make management plans now, to prevent summer mastitis outbreaks before the heat strikes.  With this knowledge and a full-arsenal of WestfaliaSurge products, dairy producers can reduce the effect of summer mastitis.  As usual, prevention is much easier than a cure when dealing with mastitis.

Article References:  Will Your Herd Cell Count Rise with the Thermometer?, Dr. Arlen Mills, Extension Veterinarian, Capital Region, Pa, May 3, 2002; Anticipating Higher Somatic Cell Counts or Greater Clinical Mastitis During the Summer, Gerald M. Jones, Professor & Extension Dairy Scientist, Virginia Cooperative Extension, April 2001; Summer Coliform Mastitis, Dr. Joe Hogan, Ohio State University, Buckeye Dairy News, May 2004; Outbreaks of Clinical Mastitis in Summer, Countdown Downunder web site, www.countdown.org.au/news/grabs/nov01/01nov_1_grab.htm.