Coliform Mastitis

Coliform mastitis is tremendously important to the dairy industry for several reasons. First, it has become the predominant form of clinical mastitis and current management practices favor an increase in incidence. Second, coliform organisms cause some of the most severe cases of clinical mastitis. Third, as present trends in the dairy industry of increasing milk quality continue, environmental mastitis, principally coliform mastitis, is becoming the single most economically important form of mastitis. Finally, clinical coliform mastitis can have a devastating impact on milk production. In one study it was reported that a case of coliform mastitis resulted in a combined loss of 876 lb of milk. Another study reported that approximately 40% of glands affected by coliform mastitis did not return to production and approximately 75% of the cows with non-productive glands were subsequently culled.