Rapid, accurate, on-farm diagnosis and monitoring of mastitis in dairy cows

"As the world population continues to grow, we need to produce more food for more people, without compromising on animal welfare. Disease control in animals plays a major role in achieving this.

Disease is estimated to reduce productivity in the livestock industry by 20% per annum, with losses from mortality, treatment costs, increased labour and reduced milk or meat yield. The most important production limiting disease in dairy cattle is mastitis (udder inflammation), which is estimated to cost £300 million in the UK and £14-23 billion worldwide. Moreover, it is the most frequent reason for antimicrobial use in dairy cattle which results in drug residues in milk and manure and may lead to antimicrobial resistance, which is a major public health concern across human and animal health sectors. There is therefore a societal desire to limit antimicrobial use for treatment of mastitis, without compromising dairy cow welfare.

Detection of mastitis is currently largely based on visual inspection of milk or measurement of somatic cell count (SCC), enzymatic markers, or conductivity, with identification of the causative bacteria based on bacterial culture or advanced laboratory methods. There are significant drawbacks to these tests including inaccurate results, the time needed to obtain a result, and the inability of on-farm tests to quickly differentiate between bacteria. More accurate and informative tests are needed to enable fast, on-farm decision making about antimicrobial treatment of cows with mastitis, and to reduce antimicrobial use whilst safeguarding cow health.

Combining the diagnostic assay development expertise of Abingdon Health with the animal health and biomarker knowledge of the University of Glasgow, a rapid diagnostic device will be developed for on-farm use for accurate detection and monitoring of mastitis."