Oral and Poster Abstracts

evaluated, highly significantly greater milk protein was detected in
those animals ovulating before day 22 p.p.
Our study demonstrates that these indicators could be useful in
estimation of the post partal onset of ovarian activity in dairy cows. A
larger complex of metabolic status indicators in milk will be the subject
of our subsequent studies.
This work was supported by a grant No. MSM 6046070901 and
1G46086
548 Effect of Organic and Inorganic Zinc Supplementation on the
Prevention of Zinc Deficiency in Aberdeen Angus Calves
S. Dresler, L. Perlikova, D. Kumprechtova, J. Illek
University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Brno,
Czech Republic
Objective: The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of
supplementation of suckling Aberdeen Angus (AA) calves with
different forms of zinc during the grazing season.
Material and methods: At the beginning of the grazing season, zinc
deficient was diagnosed in AA calves (n=16) at 2 to 5 weeks of
age along with their mothers, into two groups (Control and Bioplex).
The calves suckled milk, were given starter feed and gradually were
getting used to graze. The calf starter feed consisted of crimped wheat,
oats, barley and protein concentrate. The starter feed contained 36 mg
zinc per 1 kg and was given ad libitum to calves from 1 week of age.
After the beginning of grazing season, the zinc concentration in starter
7 Health Status of Cows Before Parturition Associated with
Concentration of GM1 & IgG in Colostrum and Reflects
Resistance of Acquiring New IMI at Early Lactation
G. Leitner 1 , O. Krifucks 1 , S. Jacoby 2 , Y. Lavi 3 , N. Silanikove 2
1 Kimron Veterinary Institute, Bacteriology, Bet Dagan, Israel
2 Agricultural Research Ortganization, the Volcani Center, Animal
Science, Bet Dagan, Israel
3 Hebrew University, Rehovot, Israel
Objective: Study the association between the concentrations of IgG
and Gangliosides type M1 (GM1) in colostrum of cows and IMI during
first weeks postpartum.
Materials and methods: Israeli-Holstein cows n=108: 38 heifers and
75 pluriparous cows. Cows were dried 60 d before next expected
parturition. During the 45 d prior to the end of lactation, the cows were
tested 3 times on the quarter level for bacteriology and SCC. Colostrum
of cows and heifers were tested on the day of parturition and thereafter
milk was tested at 10, 30 and 45 d postpartum for bacteriology and
SCC. Bacterial identification and SCC were carried out according to
IDF. Total IgG & GM1 (Relative values of GM1, GM1-RV) were
determined as the reduction of binding of CT to PolySorb plates coated
with GM1 by competition with the b-chain of cholera toxin (b-CT)
were determined in the mixed colostrum. The effects of udder infection
and lactation (heifers vs pluriparous) on total IgG, GM1-RV & SCC
were determined by a two-way ANOVA in a random design. Linear
discrimination analysis was used to distinguish between the
classification variable (uninfected or infected) based on total IgG and
GM1-RV levels and records of infection.
Results: High levels of IgG & GM1-RV in pluriparous cows were
associated with lower new incidence of IMI in the subsequent
lactation. The mean IgG level in colostrum of heifers was not
significantly lower than that of pluriparous cows. Infected quarters
of heifers or cows had significantly lower IgG levels than uninfected
quarters. The mean GM1-RV in the colostrum of infected heifers
was significantly higher than that of the pluriparous cows. This
difference was not found in uninfected animals. Moreover, in
heifers, GM1-RV in infected quarters was not significantly higher
than in uninfected ones whereas in the pluriparous cows, GM1-RV
levels were significantly lower in the infected than in the uninfected
quarters. Linear discriminate analysis based on these two variables
yielded 70% successful classification. This analysis was less
successful in heifers because a high proportion of them joined the
herd already infected with bacteria.
44 XXV. Jubilee World Buiatrics Congress 2008
Mastitis / Udder Health and Milk Quality
feed was increased by 30 mg per kg (total 60 mg Zn/kg). The Control
calves received starter feed with zinc sulphate, the Bioplex calves
received calf starter with organic zinc (Bioplex-Zn). Calves in both
groups received starter feed ad libitum. The experiment lasted 2
months. At the beginning and the end of the trial the calves were
weighed and each calf was withdrawn a blood sample to measure zinc
concentration and selected parameters of metabolic profile. The results
were statistically analysed and evaluated.
Results: Initial serum zinc concentration was 6.55±0.80 and 7.10±0.6
umol/l, serum total protein levels were 65.2 l and 66.5 g/l, and serum
IgG levels were 14.8 g/l and 13.1 g/l in the Controls and Bioplex,
respectively. At the end of the trial there was a significant increse in
serum zinc concentrations in both groups, with Bioplex supplemented
calves showing a higher increase in plasma zinc levels. Zinc
concentrations were 11.87±1.77 and 15.81±0.72 µmol/l in the Control
and Bioplex groups, respectively. The differences were statistically
significant. The Bioplex supplemented calves showed higher IgG
levels. There were significant differences in daily weight gain between
the groups, too. While the Control calves showed the growth rate of
1.12±0.07 kg per calf per day, the Bioplex calves grew 1.24±0.09 per
calf per day.
Conclusions: The dietary zinc supplementation in calves favourably
influenced serum zinc concentrations. The organic zinc
supplementation resulted in a greater increase in serum zinc
concentrations, serum IgG levels and weight gain. The organic form of
zinc can be recommended as a useful tool to prevent zinc deficiency in
calves.
Conclusions: The results suggest that the health status of the animal at
the last month before parturition is associated with colostrum quality
and reflects its resistance of acquiring new IMI. While in heifers, of
which high proportion joined the herd when already infected with
bacteria no such association was found.
8 Cell Differentiation in Milk of Cows with Healthy Udders
D. Schwarz 1 , K. Failing 2 , W. Wolter 3 , CP. Czerny 1
1 Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Institute of Veterinary
Medicine, Göttingen, Germany
2 Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Unit for Biomathematics and
Data Processing, Gießen, Germany
3 State Council Gießen, Milk Control, Wetzlar, Germany
Cell counts and the determination of differential cell patterns in milk
samples are important criterions for the evaluation of udder health. The
limits for the evaluation of udder health are well-defined by clear cut-off
rates. The objective of our study was the analysis of somatic cell
populations in foremilk samples to identify inflammations at a
significantly lower level than given by current definitions. The milk of
Holstein-Friesian cows (n=18) and German Simmental cows (n=2) with
low cell counts from five Hessian dairy farms was examined
cytologically. Cell counts were determined with a Fossomatic 5000 and
bacteriological examinations. Milk smears were generated for each udder
quarter and stained according to the method of Pappenheim. To create the
differential cell patterns, 100 cells per milk smear were counted and
differentiated by microscopy. The classification into different cell count
groups of all foremilk samples analyzed in the years 2000-2003 in the
German federal state Hesse showed the importance of very low (7%) and
low (50%) cell counts. Moreover, the results of monthly cell counts
developed on quarter levels allowed to suggest inflammable reactions in
the cell count array lower than 100,000 cells/ml, because there were clear
cell count variations visible in a little time period. All 80 udder quarters
tested in our study were subdivided into groups with very low, low and
medium cell counts. In each group we found epithelial cells at the
differential cell patterns of a maximum of 3%. The lymphocytes
dominated the ‘very low’ group with an amount of 70%. The differential
cell patterns in the ‘low’ group consisted of ca. 40% lymphocytes and
40% macrophages. The percentage of the polymorphonuclear neutrophils
clearly increased at cell counts of 43.000 cells/ml. These data indicated
inflammable reactions at such low cell counts. Our findings were
confirmed by monitoring the development of the monthly cell counts. The
bacteriological examinations only identified S. aureus in one quarter, E.