Risk factors for bovine mastitis with the isolation and identification of Streptococcus agalactiae from farms in and around Haramaya district, eastern Ethiopia

• Published in: Tropical animal health and production 2019-07, Vol.51 (6), p.1507-1513
• Main Authors: Lakew, Biniam Tsegaye, Fayera, Taresa, Ali, Yimer Muktar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; bacteria; Biomedical and Life Sciences; bovine mastitis; California mastitis test; Cattle; Cross-Sectional Studies; Ethiopia; Ethiopia - epidemiology; Farms; Female; lactating females; Lactation; Life Sciences; Mastitis; Mastitis, Bovine - epidemiology; Mastitis, Bovine - microbiology; milk; Milk - microbiology; Pregnancy; Prevalence; production technology; Regular; Regular Articles; Risk analysis; Risk Factors; screening; Statistical analysis; Statistical methods; Streptococcal Infections - epidemiology; Streptococcal Infections - microbiology; Streptococcal Infections - veterinary; Streptococcus agalactiae; Streptococcus agalactiae - genetics; Streptococcus agalactiae - isolation & purification; Streptococcus infections; Veterinary Medicine/Veterinary Science; Zoology
• ISSN: 0049-4747; 1573-7438
• DOI: 10.1007/s11250-019-01838-w

A cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the prevalence and risk factors of bovine mastitis caused by Streptococcus agalactiae from farms in and around Haramaya district, eastern Ethiopia. A total of 384 lactating cows were selected from small-, medium-, and large-scale production systems. California mastitis test (CMT) was used for screening subclinical mastitis. Out of the total animals examined, 63.02% ( n  = 242) had mastitis, where 6.77% ( n  = 26) and 56.25% ( n  = 216) were clinical and subclinical mastitis respectively. The quarter-level prevalence was 29.04% ( n  = 446), from which the clinical form was 6.38% ( n  = 98) and the subclinical was 22.66% ( n  = 348), and the rest quarters were blind 3.32% ( n  = 51). Milk samples from clinical as well as CMT positive quarters were cultured for isolation of S. agalactiae , where 10.3% ( n  = 46) resulted in growth of the bacterium. The prevalence of mastitis was found to be statistically significant among the age groups ( p  = 0.002), breed ( p  = 0.000), and parity ( p  = 0.000). Similar findings were found to the extrinsic risk factors considered; as production type ( p  = 0.010), teat injury ( p  = 0.02), and type of floor ( p  = 0.000). The study confirmed the importance of S. agalactiae as the cause of contagious mastitis and also identified the associated risk factors in the study farms and hence warrants serious attention.