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Title: INTRAMAMMARY RESPONSE TO SMOOTH AND ABRADED INTRAMAMMARY DEVICES AND TO IMMUNIZATION

Author
item SAUDI, A. - CAIRO UNIV., EGYPT
item Paape, Max

Submitted to: Journal of Veterinary Medicine of Egypt
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/15/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Mastitis, an infectious disease of the udder of cows, buffaloes, goats and sheep, is one of the most serious animal health problems of the dairy industry in Egypt and the United States resulting in losses of billions of dollars annually. Antibiotics and germicide continue to be an important part of therapy in the United States. In Egypt the situation is quite different. There is little use of antibodics and germicides because of cost and limited availability. Thus alternatives are needed for controlling mastitis. Scientists in Egypt teamed up with scientists in the Unaited States to determine if a plastic intramammary device (IMD), shown to be effective in preventing mastitis in dairy cows in the US, would be effective in Egyptian Water Buffaloes. Results indicate that only 8% of quarters in buffaloes with IMD became naturally infected, while 38% of the quarters without IMD became infected. The IMD may fill the need in providing protection against mastitis in those areas of the world where antibiotics and germicides are not readily available.

Technical Abstract: Intramammary devices (IMD) are small flexible organic polymer loops which may be abraded or left smooth. Smooth and abraded (IMD) were inserted into mammary quarters of 8 lactating cows. Four of the 8 cows were immunized with E. coli J 5. Fore milk and stripping samples were collected weekly for bacteriological culture and somatic cell count (SCC). Results indicate that the abraded IMD has been the IMD prototype of choice for achieving th one million SCC in stripping milk which is needed to prevent intramammary infection IMI). Immunization did not confer an additional increase in SCC, but it may increase the antibody titre and/or the ability of neutrophils to phagocytose. Naturally occurring infections were observed in 3 of 8 (37.5% control quarters, 3 of 12 (25%) quarters with smooth IMD and 1 of 12 (8.3) quarters with abraded IMD. Infection failed to occur when SCC was greater than 5 X 10-5/ml.