Streptococcus canis okozta tőgyegészségügyi problémák egy nagy létszámú tehenészetben

Abstract

SUMMARY Mastitis causes a huge economic loss in the dairy farms and it can be a constant food hygiene risk. The disease is usually caused by different bacteria, many times various Streptococci are responsible for the inflammation of the udder. S. canis is one of the minor pathogens, it is a rare causative agent but in some cases it can cause herd level infections. The authors show an outbreak of S. canis mastitis in a large scale Hungarian dairy herd with 700 milking cows. Due to the constant high bulk tank somatic cell count a mastitis control program became necessary. Part of this program was the microbiological examination of large number of milk samples. 25% of these milk samples, originated from clinical and subclinical mastitis, contained S. canis. 18% of the clinical mastitis cases were caused by S. canis. In the milking parlour several problems were found, which could help the spread of S. canis. The teats were cleaned with a teat scrubber, but the cows were so dirty that it was impossible to disinfect the tool; hence it became one of the major sources of mastitis pathogens. The identification of clinical mastitis cases was very poor; dozens of sick animals were in the herd without separation and antibiotic treatment. The milkers were not wearing gloves during the milking and the post milking teat dipping was done very superficially, there were lots of missed teats, or teats with inadequate cover after PMTD. There were lots of dogs and cats in the maternity pen, and according to the literature these animals also could be the main source and the reservoirs of the bacteria.