Oral and Poster Abstracts

eproductive data showed that cows found positive to mycoplasma had
lower reproductive efficiency. The percentage of cows with 3 or more AI
per conception was higher (82%) for infected cows. The same pattern was
observed on other parameters such as days-open and metritis incidence.
The rate of pneumonic infections was highest after the onset of the
outbreak. Standard treatments were inefficient. Arthritis was also
diagnosed in some cows showing enlarged joints and lameness. There
was an increase of SCC between September and November in positive
cows. During those 3 months 67%, 83% and 100% of the infected cows
had SCC above 200,000 cells/ml with an average higher than 1,200,000
cells/ml. The production level of the herd decreased from 26.5 kg in
August to 22.6 kg of milk/day/cow in November. This report confirmed
for the first time the association of M. bovis with clinical and subclinical
mastitis in dairy cattle in Portugal. These results suggest that M. bovis
should be considered in the differential diagnosis of mastitis in Portuguese
dairy farms.
Key words: mycoplasma bovis, dairy cattle, mastitis, arthritis,
pneumonia
587 Bulk Milk Tank Staphylococcus aureus UCF Count as
Predictive Datum for Bovine Herd’s Infection Level
G. Varisco 1 , L. Bertocchi 1 , N. Contessi 2 , M. Tranquillo 1 , G. Bolzoni 1
1 Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell’Emilia
Romagna Brescia, Brescia, Italy
2 Centro Miglioramento Latte, Brescia, Italy
Aim of this work is to verify the predictivity of bulk milk tank
(BMT) analysis as simple tool for epidemiological surveillance system on
herd’s Staphylococcus aureus infection level. The comparison between
BMT analysis results and single cow milk (SCM) analysis results was
investigated to verify the relationship between BMT Staph. aureus UFC
value and dairy herds infection rate. During 2005, 47.208 cow milk
samples were analysed (7.166 positive, 38.530 negative and 1.512 to
much polluted)) of 31 dairy herds (approximately 4.000 cows were
checked). Staph. aureus count in BMT (UFC) was found to
decrease during time, due to dairy Staph. aureus infection rate reduction
at cow level. Statistical analysis shows that within herds the prevalence is
1.28 grater (exp 0.25) every one UFC log unit (p
7 log) were removed by the bedding treatment.
Conclusions: The results indicate that applying DryMaxx bedding
treatment to the bacterial suspension facilitated the removal of the bacterial
suspension from the cow mat. We suggest applying DeLaval bedding
treatment to DeLaval cow mats, letting the bedding treatment remain on
the cow mat for at least 30 minutes, and then sweeping off the bedding
treatment and removing it from potential future contact with the cow.
589 Evaluating the Teat Condition Performances of a New Teat
Spray in an Automatic Milking Environment
X. Goossens 1 , L. Bommelé 2 , W. Ingalls 3 , T. Hemling 3
1
DeLaval, PP Milk Quality & Animal Health, Gent, Belgium
2
Ghent University, Biocenter Agri-Vet, Melle, Belgium
3
DeLaval, PP Milk Quality & Animal Health, Kansas City, United
States
Automatic milking is a growing practice in dairy farming. In an automatic
milking system the cows are milked more frequently and the variation in
the interval between milkings is greater than with conventional milking.
As the automatic milking creates a new and different management and
environment with different challenges for the teats, new teat dips with the
objective to maintain good teat condition when sprayed in an automatic
milking system should be tested in the system itself. Results abstracted
from conventional milking parlours cannot be the only basis to evaluate
teat dips in this new way of milking. Teat condition studies done in
conventional milking parlours, use a split udder or split herd design. In
the conventional milking parlours this dipping or spraying is done by
human interaction and can be done selectively with the right product on
the correct teats. In automatic milking systems, teat spraying is done
automatically. Technically it is not possible to spray the teats of
different cows with different products. And because of the spraying it
is not possible to spray only two teats of each cow without hitting the
two control teats. This makes it impossible to do a side by side control
trial in a robotic system. The objective of this study was to evaluate a
new teat spray for an automatic milking system in a commercial dairy
farm environment with a positive control. To evaluate teat condition
performance of a new peroxide teat spray (DeLaval Prima) in an
automatic milking system we made use of a switch back design
(Rasmussen et al. 2001). Control product was Delaval Proactive Plus, a
teat dip with well know teat condition performance. Before the start of
the trial, the teats had already been sprayed for a long period with the
control product. During the trial period of 18 weeks, the experimental
product and the control product were switched every 6 weeks. At the start
and every two weeks during the trial period, teat skin condition, teat end
condition and orifice thickness were scored by the same trained person
using an ordinal scale. Every two weeks individual SCCs were recorded.
Weather data were gathered throughout the trial. The switch back design
should help to evaluate the teat condition performances of a new teat
spray in an automatic milking environment with one robot.
590 Prevalence of Intramammary Infection in Pregnant Heifers
M. Vasil, J. Bires
University of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary
Science, Kosice, Slovakia
Examination carried out in 3 farms on 110 heifers. Clinical
examination of the udder and bacteriological tests of quarter secretion