Introduction to mastitis

Mastitis is inflammation of the mammary gland. While mastitis can occur in any species, it is of particular economic importance to dairy herds. In dairy cows, 30-50% of cows will experience clinical mastitis at least once per lactation. While mastitis takes an obvious toll on individual animal health, the economic losses from decreased milk quality to decreased production to general farm economics are high. It is estimated that a single case of mastitis costs approximately $100-400.  Additionally, mastitis treatment and prevention and control account for the majority of antibiotic use on dairies. With the push for decreasing antibiotic use in food animals, early detection and conservative antibiotic usage are becoming more important to dairy herd management.

Laboratory safety

During the mastitis laboratory, you will be working with milk collected from the campus dairy herd. Testing of any biologic sample (e.g., blood, body fluids, unpasteurized milk) carries some degree of risk. To minimize this, the campus dairy herd undergoes monthly H5N1 testing. If any positive cases are identified, milk from that herd will not be used for instruction, and if a positive result is reported after the lab session, you will be notified. While H5N1 is highlighted here as a current example, the same precautions apply to any potential pathogen encountered in laboratory exercises.

Using appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and following disinfection protocols are essential to maintaining a safe laboratory environment. These measures not only protect you during training but also reflect the standards of biosecurity expected in clinical and field practice. For a review of general laboratory safety protocols, please see Module 1: Laboratory Safety.