Yaşar Ergün -, Özkan ASLANTAŞ, Gökhan DOĞRUER, Ekrem KİREÇCİ

Prevalence and etiology of subclinical mastitis in Awassi dairy ewes in southern Turkey

In order to study the prevalence and etiology of subclinical mastitis a bacteriological survey on 16 Awassi dairy sheep flocks in southern Turkey was conducted. A total of 1458 milk samples from 729 Awassi ewes in mid-lactation were tested with the California mastitis test (CMT). Samples from 170 (11.7%) glands and 135 (18.5%) sheep had positive CMT results. Bacteria were isolated from 93 (6.4%) udder halves and 82 (11.2%) ewes. Positive CMT and bacteriological results were combined to define subclinical mastitis. The prevalence of subclinical mastitis and positive CMT samples among the different flocks ranged from 1.9% to 11.5% and 2.8% to 21.9% of the glands, and 3.8% to 19% and 5.7% to 31.3% of the ewes, respectively, with averages of 6.4% and 11.7% of the glands, and 11.2% and 18.5% of the ewes, respectively. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) were the most prevalent bacteria, representing 76.5% of the isolates. Staphylococcus epidermidis (35.7%) was the most prevalent species, followed by Staphylococcus xylosus (10.2%), Staphylococcus saprophyticus (10.2%), Staphylococcus warneri (9.2%), and Staphylococcus intermedius (7.1%). Antimicrobial susceptibility of 78 Staphylococcus isolates was evaluated in this study. The most effective antibiotics were cephalothin (97.4%), sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (97.4%), amoxicillin + clavulanic acid (97.4%), enrofloxacin (94.9%), gentamycin (92.3%), and erythromycin (84.6%). The relationship between CMT +1 score and the Staphylococcus spp. isolation rate was statistically significant (P < 0.001). It was concluded that subclinical mastitis is not highly prevalent and it does not pose a significant health problem for milking Awassi sheep flocks in southern Turkey.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Key words: Subclinical mastitis, Awassi ewe, prevalence, etiology, southern Turkey

Prevalence and etiology of subclinical mastitis in Awassi dairy ewes in southern Turkey

Keywords:

Key words: Subclinical mastitis, Awassi ewe, prevalence, etiology, southern Turkey,

PDF

___

Marco, J.C.: Mastitis in Latxa ewes: epidemiology, diagnostic and control. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Zaragoza, Spain, 1994.
Hamed, A.I., Abou-Zeid, N.A., Kebary, K.M.K., Radwan, A.A.: Physical and chemical properties of subclinical mastitic sheep's and goat's milk. Egyp. J. Dairy Sci., 1993; 21: 133-149. (Ph. D. Thesis in Spanish, with an abstract in English).
González-Rodríguez, M.C., Gonzalo, C., San Primitivo, F., Cármenes, P.: Relationship between somatic cell count and intramammary infection of the half udder in dairy ewes. J. Dairy Sci., 1995; 78: 2753-2759.
de la Cruz, M., Serrano, E., Montoro, V., Marco, J., Romeo, M., Baselga, R., Albizu, I., Amorena, B.: Etiology and prevalence of subclinical mastitis in the Manchega sheep at mid-late lactation. Small Ruminant Res., 1994; 14: 175-180.
Lafi, S.Q., al-Majali, A.M., Rousan, M.D., Alawneh, J.M.: Epidemiological studies of clinical and subclinical ovine mastitis in Awassi sheep in northern Jordan. Prev. Vet. Med., 1998; 33: 171-181.
Schalm, O.W., Carrol, E.J., Jain, N.C.: Bovine Mastitis. Lea and Febiger, Philadelphia, USA. 1971: 360.
International Dairy Federation, Milk and Milk Products: Guidance on Sampling. International Dairy Federation, Standard 50B, Brussels, Belgium. 1985.
Hogan, J.S., Gonzalez, R.N., Harmon, R.J., Nickerson, S.C., Oliver, S.P., Pankey, J.W., Smith, K.L.: Laboratory Handbook on Bovine Mastitis. rev. ed. NMC Inc., Madison, WI; 1999.
Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI): Performance standards for antimicrobial susceptibility testing; sixteenth informational supplement (M100-S16); Wayne PA, 2006.
Al-Majali, A.M., Jawabreh, S.: Period prevalence and etiology of subclinical mastitis in Awassi sheep in southern Jordan. Small Ruminant Res., 2003; 47: 243-248.
Batavani, R.A., Mortaz, E., Falahian, K., Dawoodi, M.A.: Study on frequency, etiology and some enzymatic activities of subclinical ovine mastitis in Urmia, Iran. Small Ruminant Res., 2003; 50: 45-50.
Albenzio, M., Taibi, L., Muscio, A., Sevi, A.: Prevalence and etiology of subclinical mastitis in intensively managed flocks and related changes in the yield and quality of ewe milk. Small Ruminant Res., 2002; 43: 219-226.
Quiroga, M.C., Marcelion, P.P., Espadaneria, E.M., Vilela, C.L.: Survey of mastitis in sheep: a preliminary study. Vet. Tecnica, 1997; 7: 52-55.
Fthenakis, G.C.: Prevalence and aetiology of subclinical mastitis in ewes of Southern Greece. Small Ruminant Res., 1994; 13: 293-300.
Watkins, G.H., Burriel, A.R., Jones, J.E.T.: A field investigation of subclinical mastitis in sheep in southern England. Br. Vet. J., 1991; 147: 413-420.
Bor, A., Winkler, M., Gootwine, E.: Non-clinical intramammary infection in lactating ewes and its association with clinical mastitis. Br. Vet. J., 1989; 145: 178-184.
Schoeder, G., Baumgartner, W., Pernthaner, A.: Variation of somatic cell counts in sheep and goats milk during the lactation period. In: Proc. 5th Symp. Machine Milking of Small Ruminants. Budapest, Hungry. 1993; 99-104.
Baysal, T., Kenar, B.: Isolation and identification of aerobic microorganisms from clinical and subclinical mastitis cases in Konya and its vicinity. Etlik Vet. Mikrobiyol. Derg., 1989; 6: 55- 66. (article in Turkish, with an abstract in English)
Fthenakis, G.C.: California mastitis test and Whiteside test in diagnosis of subclinical mastitis of dairy ewes. Small Ruminant Res., 1995; 16: 271-276.
González-Rodríguez, M.C., Cármenes, P.: Evaluation of the California mastitis test as a discriminant method to detect subclinical mastitis in ewes. Small Ruminant Res., 1996; 21: 245- 250.
Burriel, A.R.: Isolation of coagulase-negative staphylococci from the milk and environment of sheep. J. Dairy Res., 1998; 65: 139- 142.