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Though critical to calf health and growth, colostrum exposure of dairy calves to infectious agents, potentially resulting in calfhood illness and/or reduced absorption of colostral antibodies. While FDA-approved preservatives such as potassium sorbate may represent 1 approach to reduce bacterial proliferation in stored colostrum or milk, efficacy studies are relatively limited. Objectives of this study were to describe the effect of a stabilized liquid potassium sorbate preservative product (Dam Fresh™, Solution BioSciences, Inc (SBS), Inc. Morristown, NJ) on 1) bacterial proliferation in bovine colostrum and milk when stored by refrigeration and at room temperature, and 2) immunoglobulin G (IgG) levels in colostrum. We hypothesized that the preservative would reduce bacterial proliferation in stored milk and colostrum while having no negative effect on colostrum IgG levels., American Association of Bovine Practitioners Proceedings of the Annual Conference, 2020

There is an opportunity to reduce antibiotic (ABX) use at dry-off in US dairy farms, as approximately 80% of herds practice blanket dry cow therapy (BDCT), despite most quarters (~80%) being uninfected at that time. Selective dry cow therapy (SDCT) strategies use screening tests to determine which quarters or cows require ABX treatment at dry-off. A small number of trials conducted in North America recently found that SDCT reduced ABX use by up to 60% without negatively impacting udder health, culling risk or milk production when compared to BDCT. However, more research is needed to validate SDCT before it can be widely implemented. The objective of this study was to compare 2 SDCT approaches (Culture-based or Algorithm-based) against BDCT in a multiherd randomized, positively controlled, clinical trial for the following outcomes; reduction in ABX use at dry-off, clinical mastitis (CM) risk, culling risk, milk yield, and somatic cell count (SCC) in the first 120 days in milk (DIM)., American Association of Bovine Practitioners Proceedings of the Annual Conference, 2019

The major objective of this multi-herd observational study was to describe the relationship between BBC and udder health and to identify cutpoints for interpreting bedding culture results. A secondary objective was to identify bedding characteristics and bedding management strategies that are associated with lower BBC and improved udder health. This abstract presents preliminary results describing some of the relationships between bedding bacteria count (BBC), bedding characteristics, and udder health for 4 bedding materials: new sand (NS), reclaimed sand (RS), manure solids (MS), or other organic bedding materials (OB)., American Association of Bovine Practitioners Proceedings of the Annual Conference, 2018

Pre-milking cleaning and teat disinfection is a common practice on US dairy farms. Studies have shown that towel laundering practices can influence levels of bacteria in towels that are used in teat preparation. Consequently, some laboratories offer towel culture services, which are used by practitioners to evaluate the effectiveness of towel laundering systems. However, the impact of poor towel hygiene on udder health is not well understood, and few surveys have been conducted to describe towel hygiene, or management strategies to improve towel hygiene, on US dairy farms. The objectives of this cross-sectional study are to: 1) describe the levels of bacteria in udder towels on US dairy farms, 2) describe associations between towel total bacteria count (TBC) and intramammary infection (IMI) prevalence for individual pathogens and specific pathogen groups in late lactation cows, 3) identify laundering-related risk factors for high towel bacteria count, and 4) identify critical levels of bacteria in towels, that might be used as cut-points to guide practitioners when interpreting towel culture reports. This study is ongoing, with results currently being assembled. In this abstract we report preliminary results., American Association of Bovine Practitioners Proceedings of the Annual Conference, 2018

Many cows acquire subclinical intramammary infections (IMI) during lactation, necessitating antimicrobial treatment at dry-off (dry cow therapy). If the dairy industry moves toward the adoption of selective dry cow therapy, one essential strategy to reduce mastitis-associated antimicrobial use at dry off will be to reduce the incidence of new IMI during lactation. One important source of mastitis-causing pathogens is bedding. However studies are needed to investigate the association between bedding management, bedding bacteria count (BBC), and IMI risk in late lactation cows. The objectives of this prospective cross-sectional study are to: 1) describe associations between BBC and IMI prevalence for individual pathogens and specific pathogen groups in late lactation cows, 2) identify bedding-related risk factors for high BBC, and 3) identify critical levels of bacteria in bedding that might be used as cut-points to guide practitioners when interpreting BBC reports. This study is ongoing, with winter 2018 results currently being assembled., American Association of Bovine Practitioners Proceedings of the Annual Conference, 2018

The dairy industry must develop mastitis control practices that can use antimicrobials judiciously while maintaining or improving udder health. One opportunity is the adoption of selective dry cow therapy (SDCT) programs that treat only infected quarters or cows. Another approach may be to identify and apply selective treatment to infected quarters soon after calving. However, for such programs to be successful, we require on-farm tests with sufficient accuracy and utility to differentiate infected from uninfected quarters or cows. The objective of this study was to describe the diagnostic test characteristics of an automated milk leukocyte differential (MLD) test to identify intramammary infection (IMI) in early-lactation (EL) and late-lactation (LL) quarters and cows., American Association of Bovine Practitioners Proceedings of the Annual Conference, 2016

High levels of bacteria in bedding (bedding bacteria counts; BBC) are associated with increased bacteria loads on teat ends and, in some reports, with an increased risk for environmental mastitis infections. However, relatively few studies have investigated the relationship between BBC and udder health, and science-based guidelines are lacking to interpret BBC culture results in different bedding materials. Therefore, the primary goal of our study is to conduct a multi-state, multi-herd cross-sectional observational study to describe the relationship between bedding bacteria counts and udder health and to identify cutpoints for interpreting BBC data. A secondary objective is to identify bedding characteristics and bedding management strategies that are associated with lower BBC and improved udder health. In this abstract we present preliminary results that describe BBC in new and used bedding samples collected from herds using new sand (NS), reclaimed sand (RS), manure solids (MS) or other organic bedding materials (OB)., American Association of Bovine Practitioners Proceedings of the Annual Conference, 2017

The study objective was to evaluate the effects of applying a culture-guided, quarter-level selective dry cow therapy (SDCT) program on udder health and antibiotic usage as compared to blanket dry cow therapy (BDCT). Two days prior to dry-off (DO), 56 cows were randomly assigned to a BDCT or SDCT group and aseptic quarter milk samples were collected for laboratory culture. For cows in the SDCT group, milk from each quarter was also cultured using a rapid culture system, with results recorded as bacterial "growth" or "no growth". On the day of DO, cows in the BDCT group were infused with an antibiotic and an internal teat sealant in all 4 quarters. For cows assigned to the SDCT group, quarters with bacterial growth were infused with an antibiotic plus internal teat sealant, while quarters with no growth were infused with internal teat sealant only. Quarter milk samples were collected days 1 through 7 after calving for laboratory culture, and clinical mastitis events were recorded between DO and 30 days-in-milk. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the effect of treatment on measures of udder health after calving. Results showed no effect of treatment on quarter level risk for presence of infection after calving ( 42.1 % vs 39.6%), cures (82.3% vs 88.0%), or new infection ( 41.5% vs 40.2%) for the SDCT and BDCT group, respectively. Antibiotic use was reduced by 48% in the SDCT group. Results of this pilot study suggest that a culture-guided quarter-level SDCT program can achieve equal udder health compared to BDCT, while significantly reducing antibiotic use at DO., The Bovine Practitioner, Vol. 51, No. 1 (2017 Spring)