Advances in dairy Research
Open Access

Abstract

A Treatise on Bovine Mastitis: Disease and Disease Economics, Etiological Basis, Risk Factors, Impact on Human Health, Therapeutic Management, Prevention and Control Strategy

Shaheen M, Tantary HA and Nabi SU

Mastitis is a disease complex that assumes highest clinical and economic significance in milch animals particularly medium to high yielding dairy cattle, usually in and around periparturient period. The disease is the infection of milk synthesizing alveolar tissue and is clinically manifested by gross abnormality of milk associated with pathological changes of udder in the form of pain, udder edema, fibrosis, and indurations, the extent depending on the severity of infection. Sub-clinical mastitis remains to be an obscure and latent form of this disease that poses more serious economic concern to the dairy livestock sector, as the incidence is much higher in a dairy herd than the clinical one. Sub-clinical mastitis accounts 40 times more than the clinical mastitis in dairy herds. Even though great technological advances have been made, mastitis continues to be a major economic issue for dairy producers, necessitating researchers and dairy advisors continue to refine the recommended mastitis control programme.