Risk Management
Dairymen everywhere have to deal with the fact that cows develop mastitis and the consequences are always negative. Minimizing problems requires an appreciation of the causes, a risk management program aimed at identifying and eliminating problems plus an education effort for all people involved.

Risk management is a term borrowed from industries such as insurance, health care and even the military. It recognizes that most activities have associated risk and once that premise has been accepted, actions can be implemented that help minimize the risk. Typically, zero risk is unattainable, but reducing it to a minimum should be the objective.

HACCP
The term HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) is also borrowed from other industries. It is the process of determining hazards and identifying where, in a process, critical control points may exist. When failures occur at these steps, problems may ensue, but these locations also represent points where problems may be detected and stopped from advancing further.

Minimizing risk requires understanding the nature and occurrence rate. The home insurance industry knows for example that certain areas of the country are more prone to violent weather, so rates may be higher or special policy riders required to cover possible losses in those areas. They may also require construction measures be implemented that help reduce damages resulting from severe weather. The health care industry has come to understand that factors such as exercise, weight, diet, smoking etc. influence the incident rate of certain problems and so attempts are made to point out such relationships and the benefits associated with making a change.

Dairymen are faced with the fact that mastitis is an ever present risk despite all the effort that has gone into determining ways of reducing or preventing it. The facts are, if you dairy, there are likely to be mastitis problems. The key is to minimize the risks.

Mastitis is caused by bacteria of various types that arrive on the teat, penetrate the teat opening, gain entry to the gland and eventually establish an infection. While various species of bacteria may have very different characteristics, risk management, in terms of mastitis control, has to focus on this set of conditions.

Contagious Mastitis
Mastitis is caused by bacteria typically categorized into two different groups. One group lives primarily in and on the cow and movement from cow to cow via some transfer mechanism allows their spread. These include bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus agalactiae. These bacteria prefer or require the udder as their habitat. Staph aureus grows well on skin tissue, especially in cracks and sores as well as the interior of the gland in the actual secretory tissue. Strep agalactiae on the other hand is not considered a skin inhabitant but is found primarily inside the gland in milk ducts and cisterns. For whatever reason these bacteria have not developed capabilities to thrive well in the environment of the cow. Other species have however.

Risk management, in terms of the contagious mastitis bacteria, involves recognizing these issues. Infected cows are the source of the organisms. Cow to cow spread is either by the milking unit or the hands of milkers. Control is related to stopping these means of transfer and curing or eliminating infected cows. Do not strip milk directly onto the hand. When milk does get on hands rinse them with a sanitizing solution before moving to the next cow. Milkers should frequently dip or coat their hands with the teat sanitizing solutions that are used in the milking facility. This kills the bacteria that may be on the hands, preventing their spread.

Gloves
Research has demonstrated that hands covered by latex or nitrile gloves are less likely to harbor bacteria than a bare hand. The glove has virtually no cracks etc. where bacteria may lodge. This is a way of managing risk and is also a critical control point. If the hands are gloved and routinely sanitized, risk of bacteria spread from cow to cow in this manner is minimized.

Cows infected with Staph aureus are difficult to cure, especially as older cows. Such animals are candidates for culling since response to available treatment products is marginal. Strep ag problems however are very responsive to available treatment products and this form of mastitis should not be present on dairies. Consult your veterinarian to determine the appropriate course of action if these organisms are present. The risk of new infections caused by contagious bacteria is directly related to the number of cows infected. Focus must be on maintaining as clean a herd as possible, in terms of the contagious bacteria, so the source for new infections is minimized.

Hazard analysis would also point out the risks associated with the purchase of cows. Such animals often bring problems with them, including contagious mastitis. Lack of safeguards can result in significant problems. Cows need to be tested in advance of transfer to the farm and /or kept segregated on the farm until their infection status is determined by testing performed by a veterinarian.

Teat Dipping
A key control point in minimizing contagious mastitis organism spread involves teat dipping, immediately after milking, with an effective teat dip. When the unit is removed from the cow there may be contagious bacteria on the teat and teat end. If they are not promptly killed or removed, they increase the risk of new infections. Teat dip, applied properly, kills these bacteria and the risk is minimized. This is why post milking teat dipping, with proven efficacy teat dips, is a critical step in mastitis control.

Environmental Mastitis
The other major risk for mastitis involves bacteria normally found in the environment of the cows. In these areas there is always present a number of different bacteria species including the coliforms and environmental Streptococci. This is their normal habitat. They are in contact with the cow much of the time and occasionally create problems. Most of these bacteria are not well suited to live on teat skin even though large numbers may end up there via contact with manure or bedding. They are opportunists that occasionally enter the gland and cause new infections, some of which can be severe.

The risk in this situation is the environment of the cow and to some degree the animals ability to resist new infections caused by these bacteria. The risk of new infections appears directly related to bacteria concentration in the environment. Cows that may have a weakened immune system, possibly due to other health problems or stress, are also likely to be more at risk.

Critical control points include the environment of the cow and the cleanliness, dryness and sanitary status of the teat end at milking time. Pre-dipping, is a management approach that helps in this regard. A quality pre-dip will kill, very quickly, a great percentage of the environmental bacteria present on the teat at the time of milking and reduces the risk associated with such bacteria. Managing the housing area and the teat end cleanliness prior to milking provides risk reduction and represents critical control points in the control of environmental mastitis.

Vaccine programs for control of coliform bacteria are also a way of minimizing the risk and should be a part of the mastitis control strategy.

It is necessary that all milkers and herd management personnel understand these differences and provide the effort necessary at both phases of the program. Control of contagious pathogens does not provide an effective control point for environmental bacteria and vice versa. Each problem has its own demands and control requires efforts best suited for the specific problem.

Premilking dips need to act rapidly to kill bacteria because exposure time will be limited. Post milking dips have no time restriction but must be able to kill a high percentage of all bacteria that may be present. They also may be able to help improve damaged skin caused by challenging weather conditions that occur on a seasonal basis.

Risk management and HACCP should be considered on all dairies and consideration should be given to formally train all employees involved with the cows on the causes of mastitis and methods used to identify and control the spread of the problem. It is a very simple tool that allows key points to be identified and highlighted so that appropriate focus can be directed at the issues concerned.

In summary, factors that increase the risk of mastitis problems include infected cows, purchased animals that may bring infections with them, environment of the cow, condition of the teat before and after milking and milking procedures. Educating everyone about the risks involved and focusing on controlling them will lead to a minimization of the overall problem.

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