Measures taken by Veterinarians in Sweden in Cases of Bovine Mastitis

Abstract

A questionnaire concerning the diagnosis and treatment of bovine mastitis was sent to all 350 Swedish food animal practitioners. 287 (82%) of the questionnaires were returned. One of the main aims was to establish if Swedish food animal practitioners used a common therapeutic regime that could be used as a control treatment in future clinical trials.

It was found that many factors of importance for the clinical diagnosis of mastitis such as body temperature, duration of the symptoms etc. often were not considered. On the other hand 60–70% of the practitioners regularly took milk samples to obtain a bacteriological diagnosis. Approximately 40% of the veterinarians cultured the milk samples in their home laboratory.

Basic measures like frequent emptying of the udder were recommended by only 40–50% of the veterinarians.

All responding field veterinarians used the systemic route for administering antibiotics when treating cases of acute, clinical bovine mastitis. The drug of choice, initially, in these cases was benzylpenicillinprocain, which was used by 65–75% of the veterinarians. Twentyfive percent used a broadspectrum antibiotic, most commonly a combination of penicillin and streptomycin. A minority (5%) directed their initial therapy towards gramnegative bacteria.

About 30–40% supported the systemic therapy with intra-mammaries. Other drugs such as NSAID, corticosteroids and oxytocin was used, on a regular basis, by only about 10% of the practitioners.

Sammanfattning

En enkät rörande diagnos och behandling av bovin mastit sändes ut till alla Sveriges 350 distriktsveterinärer. 287 (82%) enkäter returnerades. Ett av huvudsyftena med enkäten var att identifiera en terapiregim som skulle kunna användas som kontrollbehandling vid framtida kliniska försök. Enkäten visade att många faktorer som har betydelse vid diagnostik av bovin mastit, såsom kroppstemperatur, symtomens duration etc ofta inte undersöktes. Å andra sidan framgick att 60–70% av fältpraktikerna regelbundet tog mjölkprov för att erhålla en bakteriologisk diagnos. Ungefär 40% av veterinärerna odlade ut mjölkproverna i sitt hemlaboratorium. Basåtgärder, som till exempel täta urmjölkningar, rekommenderades bara av 40–50% av veterinärerna. Alla svenska fältpraktiker administrerade antibiotika allmänt när de behandlade fall av akut, klinisk mastit. Bensylpenicillinprokain valdes initialt av 65–75% av veterinärerna vid behandling av sådana fall. Tjugofem procent valde bredspektrum-antibiotika, vanligen en kombination av bensylpenicillin och streptomycin. En minoritet (5%) riktade sin terapi mot gramnegativa bakterier. Ungefär 30–40% understödde allmänbehandlingen med intrammär behandling. Andra mediciner som NSAID, kortikosteroider och oxytocin användes regelbundet endast av cirka 10% av distriktsveterinärerna.