Abstract
The purposes of this study were to determine the prevalence of heifer clinical mastitis (HCM) and heifer subclinical mastitis (HSCM), isolate HCM-causing bacteria, and assess the association of some risk factors in Huanggang, Central China. A total of 1,374 lactating heifers from three dairy farms were examined in the present study; 22.64 % of heifers were positive for mastitis, out of which, 3.86 and 18.78 % were with HCM and HSCM, respectively. Of the 67 HCM samples, 91.05 % were single growth, 7.46 % mixed growth, and 1.49 % no bacterial growth. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) accounted for 30.98 % of the isolates followed by Escherichia coli (29.58 %), Staphylococcus aureus (16.9 %), and Streptococcus uberis (11.27 %). Logistic regression analyses showed that heifer milk yield lower than 3 L had the highest prevalence of HCM compared to heifer milk yield of more than 3 L (P < 0.01), and prevalence of HCM was significantly high in heifers with the presence of teat lesions (P < 0.01). Moreover, the heifer milk yield lower than 3 L had the highest prevalence of HSCM compared to heifer milk yield of more than 3 L (P < 0.01). These two factors were significantly associated with the occurrence of heifer mastitis, which needs to be considered in the prevention and control strategies of the disease.
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Acknowledgments
This study was funded by Guangxi Department of Science and Technology and Yangtze University; the authors are thankful to these organizations. The authors are also grateful for the cooperation of the dairy farmers in the conduct of this study.
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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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Yang, F.L., Shen, C., He, B.X. et al. The prevalence of heifer mastitis and its associated risk factors in Huanggang, Central China. Trop Anim Health Prod 47, 87–92 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-014-0689-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-014-0689-z