Making Mastitis Treatment Decisions

Therapeutic efficacy of mastitis can result in frustrating clinical outcomes, depending on the causative pathogen, the severity and duration of infection, and expectations of the dairy producer. In herds that have controlled contagious mastitis, costs incurred from clinical mastitis likely account for the largest proportion of total herd mastitis costs, and in some instances, a majority of these losses results from therapeutic costs, especially discarded milk following treatment. Additionally, mastitis remains the primary cause of antibiotic use on dairy farms and violative drug residues in marketed milk in the U.S. Therefore, an approach to therapeutic decisions for mastitis must address the three fundamental "e"s : efficacy, economics, and evasion of drug residues. This paper will focus on mastitis treatment decision-making and promotes a perspective of treatment as an adjunct to immune function.