Mastitis Control is a synthesis of knowledge from a number of different research areas and can be directed at the cow, farm and regional level. At the farm and regional level, mastitis control should be carried out in control programs. These programs should ensure the production of good quality of milk, with a minimal level of diseased cows and maximal economic results. Development and execution of mastitis control programs is a dynamic process. The mastitis situation changes over time whether you are talking of a single cow, a single farm or more.
Good mastitis control is based on knowledge from a wide range of fields which can be summarized under the headings infectious pressure, milking and the milking machine, resistance and detection, diagnosis and treatment. Accordingly, during the conference, besides a session on management, planning and control, four other sessions will provide more details of the knowledge underlying optimal mastitis control:
What are your goals on udder health, and how do you realize your goals? In this session mastitis control programs at the farm as well as the regional level can be presented. A variety of research subjects, varying from communication sciences to economic studies, as well as epidemiological studies on the effect of mastitis control programs can be presented in this session.
The environment of the cow, as well the cow itself and other sources of infection, have a large influence on the risk of intramammary infections. The lower the infectious pressure, the lower the case rate of new infections. What do we know about decreasing infectious pressure? This session includes studies on the epidemiology of mastitis pathogens as well as studies on influencing the transmission of pathogens.
The milking process and milking machines are a specific subject in control of mastitis. Developments regarding all aspects of the subject (including studies on automatic milking systems) will be presented in this session.
Cows do not live in a sterile environment so they will encounter mastitis causing agents. Cow factors as well as management factors play a role in the resistance to mastitis and are therefore important for mastitis control. Subjects such as feeding, breeding, and climate, but also specific resistance (vaccination) will be presented in this session.
Despite prevention programmes, cows still can and will get mastitis once in a while. Early detection (for instance through the use of sensors) and correct diagnosis, as well as optimal treatment regimes (with or without antibiotics) are important to control mastitis.