Prevalence of bovine subclinical mastitis with California mastitis

test in a farm in Guamal town, Meta-Colombia.

Laura V. Rodriguez- Vargas 1*; Dayana A. Ibagon- Molina 1*; Yurany N. Quiroz-
Caidedo 1*.

1Students of Veterinary Medicine and zootechnics

Abstract

Bovine Mastitis is defined as an inflammation of the mammary gland whose origin is

due to injuries, infections, metabolic process, toxins, and microorganisms, it is
presented acute and can become chronic and subclinical when the animals have
symptoms like decreasing the production and quality of the milk. The prevalence
depends on the multiple factors related to the interaction of the animal with the
environment and humans. This study determined the prevalence of subclinical
mastitis in a sample of 12 cattle of the dairy farm located on track 4 of the
municipality of Guamal-Meta (Colombia), belonging to the Orinoco region. Through
the California mastitis test, the quarters classified within 1, 2 and 3 trace degrees
evaluated depending on the range of somatic cells in milk, showed a descriptive
statistic by implementing prevalence formulas. The prevalence of subclinical mastitis
in the 12 cows was 58.33% and in quarters was 35.41% considering AI and PI the
most affected or with more incidence of somatic cells. The study found out that
various factors can alter milk quality and cause intramammary infections, such as
poor handling, bad sanitation of operator and facilities, or not identifying the race and
pregnancy status.

Key words: Somatic cells, mastitis, microorganisms, prevalence.

Introduction

Mastitis is an inflammation of the mammary gland and its prevalence depends about
multiple factors related to the animal from the environment to its interaction with
humans. The origin of this inflammation is due to traumas, infections, metabolism,
toxins, and microorganisms (Mendoza, Vera, Peña, 2017). Its relevance is support in
the incidence that this pathology usually presents, and the losses range because of
the udder's functionality failure and treatment costs, being a difficulty for the dairy
producers considering that it generates a low-quality product with bad processing
and a public health problem.
Mastitis occurs clinically, and it can become chronic and subclinical when animals do
not have symptomatology, decreasing milk production and quality owing to lack of
sanitary conditions. The milk affected by this pathology changes its physique-
chemical properties (Calderón & Rodríguez, 2007-2008). This pathology is divided
into environmental and contagious where the first is produced by germs inhabitants
of the environment and the second is produced by microorganisms. The clinical's
signs that usually presents can be silent (subclinical) or vary to inflammation,
redness, and fever in the affected area and the loss of the bovine.

Regarding public health, this has an impact on the consumption of the dairy product
being a source of bacterial contamination unappropriated for consumption, and that
could cause some zoonotic disease (Castillo, Suniaga, Rojas, Hernández, Caamaño,
& Urbina, 2008).

In tropical regions, there is a higher incidence of this pathology, and it is also

common in the rainy season. Previous studies on this subject provided the basis for
the elaboration of this work where the purpose was the determination of the
prevalence of subclinical mastitis through the California mastitis test. Therefore, the
producer becomes aware and establishes improvements that prevent and minimize
the incidence of this pathology in his farm reducing costs and improving his
economy.

Justification

In Colombia, the incidence of bovine mastitis increases in rainy seasons, affecting the
milky industry, the producer's economy due to a decrease in quality and milk
production, mortality and health impact. The other aspect of growing importance in
developed dairy countries is the possibility to suffer human health problems due to food
poisoning caused by the presence of pathogenic bacteria or their toxins. (Corbellini, C.,
Lechero, P., Disease, I.e., 2002, p.10).

The sanitary impact for the dairy consuming population is negative because the
bacteria in the product may affect the consumer. Although it is true that subclinical
mastitis does not usually greatly increase the amount of CFU / ml in tank milk
(generally not more than 20,000 to 50,000 in high prevalence herds). It can contribute
some of these potentially harmful bacteria to human health. (Corbellini, C., Lechero, P.,
& Disease, I.e., 2002, p.10). The small producers with extensive production are usually
unaware of that problem.
 Objectives

overall objective

To determine the prevalence of bovine subclinical mastitis in “La Alquería” dairy

farm in Guamal town, applying the California mastitis test.

Specific objectives

- To identify the major risk factors that cause bovine mastitis in an

extensive dairy farm production.

- To diagnose and classify clinical or subclinical mastitis in selected

cattle.

Methodology

- Ethical and legal considerations

In accordance with the principles established in the Declaration of Helsinki and

taking into account the decrees agreed in Law 84 of 1989 observed in Title V of
Resolution 08430/93 Title V Resolution 8430 of October 4, 1993 and because this
investigation It Is Considered as a research with minimal risk and in compliance with
the aspects mentioned with Article 87 of thisResolution, this study will be developed
according to the following criteria

According To Article 87 of this resolution, "animal experimentation should only be

carried out after studying its importance for human or animal health and for the
advancement of biological knowledge", in addition, "the animals selected for
experimentation must be of an appropriate species and quality, and use the
minimum number required to obtains scientifically valid results "
Previous Preparation and research was carried out on animal handling, welfare
considerations and preparation for the work to be done

The extraction of milk samples directly from each lactating female from the extensive
production farm La Alquería isrequired in order to determine the conditions of milk
quality as well as their health status.

There Is the accompaniment of the worker in charge of handling and restraining the
worked cattle in order to ensure the minimum possible stress for the animal and the
safety of those evolved through good handling techniques.

- Study area

The department of Meta is located in the center - east of the Colombianterritory,

between 4 ° 55 'and 1 ° 35' north latitude and 74 ° 54 'and 71 ° 3' west longitude,
with an extension of 85,635 Km2; It is part of the Orinoquia region and part of the
Colombian Amazon. The study will be carried out on the farm house located trail 4 of
the municipality of Guamal, Meta, belonging to the Orinoquia geographical region,
located in the center - west of the country, bordered to the north by Acacias, east to
Castilla La Nueva to the south with San Martin and Cubarral and to the west with the
Sumapaz paramo. Lands Located Between 525 meters above sea level; average
temperature of 26 ° C and humidity of 64%. There are semi-intensive and extensive
farms.

- Specimens under study or experimental units.

Experimental animals. Those taken for sampling will be bovine females in the
production stage (lactation) belonging to the La Alquería farm, of the mestizo breed
(Brahaman with Gyr) and to a lesser extent jersey, these animals will be restricted
and milk extraction to apply the California Mastitis test reagent and obtain the data
from the infected quarters, creating a history per bovine that will include
identification, age, number of deliveries, liters of milk produced, weight in kg, breed,
state (loaded or not), body condition and the results of the test performed with the
california mastitis test reagent.

Twelve Female Cattle of mixed breed and to a lesser extent Jersey will be sampled.

- Samples

2 ml of milk will be collected from each quarter of bovine in somejars, they will be
taken to a clean place and the California mastitis test will be carried out.

- Analysis of the samples.

It will be analyzed with the california mastitis test reagent where it will react to the
somatic cell count that the milk has, this is observed by the consistency that the milk
takes.

- Statistical Analysis and experimental design.

The project is a cross-sectional study that focuses on obtaining representative data

from the selected bovines, information related to the breed, affected quarters,
number of calvings and weight of dairy cattle will be collected, creating a database
with the selected animals from the La Alquería farm, With the data obtained from the
number of infected quarters, descriptive statistics will be carried out, obtaining mean,
median, average, proceeding to perform statistical analysis. inorder have results so
that the producer notices the shortcomings of his production and establishes
improvements in milk production.

- Statistical analysis

The data obtained with the CMT test were observed through descriptive statistics looking for
homogeneity in the variances.

Data analysis is used where the prevalence of subclinical mastitis for cows will be measured
by total quarters and individual quarters according to the following formulas
(Santivañez-Ballón, Gómez-Quispe, Cárdenas-Villanueva, Escobedo-Enríquez,
Bustinza-Cardenas , & Peña-Sánchez, 2013)

- Prevalence = (No. of positive cows / Total No. of cows sampled) * 100

- Total prevalence of quarters= (Total number of positive quarters / Total number of
quarters sampled) * 100

RESULTS.

In the evaluation of the presence of subclinical mastitis, approximately 48 milk samples were
collected from the quarters of 12 cattle, of which 91.66% were registered as crossbreds and
to a lesser extent 8.33% as jersey, , registering the information of the evaluated females by
means of the CMT test obtaining the following results:

Prevalence = (7/12) * 100 = 58.33%

58.33% of the cows; that is, in most of the sampled females the presence of mastitis was
found.

Total prevalence of quarters = (17/48) * 100 = 35.41%

To determine the prevalence per quarters, the dry or atrophied quarters were considered.

Because the CMT test is a determining test for mastitis, the fact that it may have a margin of
error with respect to the data obtained should not be ruled out, however it was found to be
an economical and reliable test since it has a sensitivity of 97% and a specificity of 93%
according to what was reported by (J, 2016)

table: California mastitis test results

indicator population % population %

with
mastitis
populati 12 100% 7 58,30
on %
(female
s)
race

mixed race 11 91,66% 6 54,4

%
jersey 1 8,33% 1 100%

standa
rd
deviati
on
average 10,5 2,430
in
years
average 453,25 62,8332
in kilograms
(kg)
calving 7,16666 2,289
average
average liters 4,6666 1,922
of milk
table number 1: characteristics of the bovine population sampled from the farm in
guamal-meta, colombia.
mastitis status:

quarter dry positive negative

mammary
AD 4,1% 8,33% 13%

AI 0% 10,41% 14,58%

PD 4,1% 6% 14,58%

PI 2,08% 10,40% 13%

TOTAL 10,41% 35,41% 54,16%

table number 2: mastitis per quarter sampled

graph: mastitis per quarter sampled

quart s %dr ze zer trac %tra 1 1% 2 2 3 3%

er r y ro o e ce %
y %
AD 2 4,1 6 13 3 6% 0 0 0 0 1 2,08
% % %
AI 0 0 7 14, 2 4,1% 2 4,1 0 0 1 2,08
5 % %
%
PD 2 4,1 7 4,5 2 4,1% 0 0 0 0 1 2,08
% % %
PI 1 2,08 6 13 2 4,1% 2 4,1 0 0 1 2,08
% % % %
TOT 5 10,4 26 54, 9 18,75 4 8,2 0 0 4 8,33
A % 16 % % %
L %
48
TABLE NUMBER 3: LEVEL OF MASTITIS PER QUARTER IN THE MAMMARY
GLAND
AD: QUARTER PREVIOUS RIGHT BREAST
AI: PREVIOUS QUARTER LEFT
PD: RIGHT BACK QUARTER
PI: LEFT POSTERIOR QUARTER

The prevalence of mammary quarters varied, with AI and PI being the quarters most affected
or with the highest incidence of somatic cells, a factor to take into account was the condition
of the field and the handling of the animal at the time of milking.

58.3 % is a high figure of the presence of mastitis in the farm according to the study carried
out by (Calderón & Rodríguez, 2007 -2008) 34.44%, of the evaluated bovines were affected
by the pathology of which 31.29% were cases of subclinical mastitis, in addition to the level ,
(0.92%) being exorbitant the percentage of quarters lost in the production system, which was
this level, reflects a bad management in the animals and an economic loss to the producer.

Discussion

In the studied area, a failure in control and good livestock practices is reflected at the time of
milk extraction, negatively affecting milk production, translating into production costs and
generating an increase in the sale price of the dairy product in addition to the production
decrease due to the pathology and the expenses generated by a veterinary service, milk
production in Colombia, prevalences higher than 21.3% have been reported (Calderón &
Rodríguez, 2007 -2008).
Subclinical mastitis reached a prevalence that was reflected in 54.3%, which exceeds the
data reported in Colombia, in addition to the fact that the% of dry quarters is greater than
10%, the data being massive, since if compared to what reported nationally (1.6%) Reflects
poor management in production, lack of hygiene in the milker, in addition to the null
existence of prevention routines that reduce and control the pathology.

Conclusions

1. Various factors associated with the presence of mastitis in the “La alquería”
farm in Guamal-Meta were determined, among them the absence of pre and
post milking washing of both the udder and the milker's hands. The person
who handles the milking can transmit infections from the environment and
handling of materials, the absence of waiting pens for milking in the paddocks
stands out, in the same way there are no sanitary systems far from the
milking area and there is no personal protection Elements for the personnel
doing the milking.

2. The CMT was valid for the determination of subclinical mastitis in bovines
with a higher prevalence in the left quarter of registered cows.

3. There were no significant differences regarding breeds, age or status of the

animal (full / empty)
recommendation:
Through the CMT test, a low state of health is established in the production system, poor
management and a lack of animal welfare that leads to the implementation of strategies to
improve the profitability of the milk produced and therefore an increase of earnings.

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