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Toxic Coliform mastitis is a severe form of mastitis where the Coliform bacteria enter the udder and multiply very rapidly. They then die and release a toxin. This toxin is picked up from the udder and enters the blood, and causes severe toxaemia. Affected are cows often recumbent and look dull and depressed. Sometimes the process from infection to toxaemia may take as little as 6 hours.
Toxic mastitis is a very severe disease that is most common around the time of calving. This is a high risk period because at calving the immune system is significantly weakened due to the body changes at calving. Further stress occurs as feed intake at this time falls off considerably for a 24-hour period.
Infections can enter the udder around the time of calving and this is obvious if the cows are in a dirty environment. A significant amount of coliform infections enter during the dry period but don’t become clinical until after calving, despite using dry cow therapy. This is because not all teats seal after drying off. New Zealand work shows that 50% of teats are open at 10 days after dry off, and 20% open at 8 weeks! Or to put it another way, one in five of your dry cows have open teats throughout the dry period. With our high yielding cows, these percentages will be higher.
Orbeseal is a product which acts as a physical sealer at the base of the teat and is infused after your dry cow therapy. It has a significant effect in reducing clinical coliform mastitis. Orbeseal eliminates the problems that have occurred with cows leaking milk before or after calving. This leakage is due to the pressure of milk in the udder and this allows bacteria easy access to the udder.
Most calved cows are housed in pens on straw and this means that the cow can lie down on muck and so the risk of this infection is very high. Often, when I visit farms I am surprised they don’t get more cases.
The cow responds in one of two ways to coliform infections at calving. The best form of response is where the cow’s immune system recognises the infection and mounts a massive immune response and these cows have high temperatures. They respond well to treatment in that they will recover but milk production is commonly lost in the affected quarters.
In other cows the immune system does not seem to recognise the invading bacteria and there is no immune response whatsoever. These cows do not have a temperature and most of them die or if they recover, it is a slow process. Of course every case is different and we tailor our treatments to the needs of the patient.
Prevention has to be the key and again this will vary between herds. Cleanliness and good management are one of the most important key facts. Control measures include dry cow management and the use of Orbeseal, however you must also ensure that cows are kept in a clean environment and teat preparation is good. Most people look at the cubicles and yards to see if they are adequate, I prefer to look at the cow’s teats. If they are clean then the environment is good, if teats are dirty changes to the housing must be made.
More and more of our clients now predip. A fast acting disinfectant solution is applied to the teat before milking for between 20 and 30 seconds and then wiped off. This ensures that a clean teat is milked and reduces the risk of infection. Cows should remain standing for 30 minutes, rather than lie down after milking, to allow the teat canal to close. If the beds are dirty this adds to the risk. You must also ensure that the milking machine is functioning well. Liner slip and irregular vacuum fluctuations drive milk particles against the open teat canal, and if contaminated with mastitis bacteria which can cause mastitis.
One word of advice is that it can be easy to mistake milk fever for the early signs of toxic mastitis. We recommend that before you treat any cow for milk fever you always check for signs of mastitis. You should also check her temperature and if raised call for help as this will not be a straightforward case of milk fever. If cows do not respond to calcium treatment for milk fever then call for advice.
You don’t have to live with coliform mastitis as it can be controlled. A complete review of all the risk factors can pay huge dividends for your bank balance, but more importantly, for your cows.
In an emergency please telephone (01793) 522483 (24hrs).
Drove Veterinary Hospital, 252 Croft Road, Swindon, Wiltshire SN1 4RW.
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