Saturday, March 30, 2024

Combination therapy delivers the cash

Avatar photo
Canterbury research on using a combination antibiotic dry-cow and Teatseal therapy has shown positive results in lowering subclinical and clinical mastitis in cows after calving.
Reading Time: 3 minutes

The trial was conducted on a South Canterbury dairy herd in 2012, overseen by Vetlife Temuka dairy vet Andrew Bates and Zoetis technical advisory vet Greg Chambers. Bates said past research on the effectiveness of combination therapy in preventing mastitis infection has been based largely on the use of blanket Cloxacillin-type antibiotic with teat sealant, or from studies based on overseas non-pastoral dairy systems.

“But the main aim of this trial was to compare the efficiency and economics of using combination therapy based around Cephalonium-type antibiotic with teat sealant in a seasonally-calving, pasture-fed herd. Most other work has involved comparing outcomes using Cloxacillin-type treatments.”

The products used in the trial were Cepravin and the teat sealant Teatseal from Zoetis.

Support for using combination therapy on New Zealand dairy cows has been given further strength by the average dry cow period extending beyond the ability of most antibiotics to continue offering effective protection. The addition of teat sealant might offer ongoing protection after antibiotic effectiveness has declined.

“We wanted to know under South Island conditions, would adding teat sealant with Cepravin trial cows have a positive and cost-effective benefit for mastitis prevention?”

The trial data studied subclinical and clinical mastitis infection rates after calving in cows treated either with Cepravin only, or with the Cepravin-Teatseal combination treatment.

The results indicated that under the study’s conditions the combination therapy reduced the prevalence of subclinical mastitis at the first spring herd test. This was proven to be statistically significant, with subclinical mastitis detected in 45 cows receiving Cepravin alone, against 27 cows receiving combination Cepravin-Teatseal therapy.

“The risk of subclinical mastitis with Cepravin only was 16%, compared with 9% for combination treated cows.”

The results suggested less than half the mastitis in Cepravin-only group might be caused by a lack of combination treatment, he said.

The combination therapy was also found more effective on subclinical mastitis when the treated cows had a somatic cell count of more than 150,000 cells/ml the previous autumn.

The incidence rate of clinical mastitis in the first 100 days post calving was also significantly reduced, thanks to applying combination Cepravin-Teatseal therapy at drying off.

Forty six Cepravin-only cows recorded clinical mastitis within 100 days after calving, compared to 30 treated with combination therapy (16% versus 10%). This was a statistically significant lower number.

At the quarter level the difference was even greater. Some cows were affected in more than one quarter and the total number of cases recorded was even more favourable for the Cepravin-Teatseal combo group, with 36 total cases in the Cepravin-Teatseal group compared with 79 in the Cepravin-only group

Bates said estimating the full economic value of the combination treatment was difficult. However, the reduction in the number of cases of clinical mastitis was easily identified. Using SmartSAMM cost estimates for clinical mastitis, the fewer cases of clinical mastitis in the combination treated cows represent a saving of about $3100.

However, he said the effect of the treatment on subclinical mastitis was likely to be more important, given published research supports increased production with a fall in bulk tank somatic cell count (BTSCC) down to 200,000. It is possible there might be extra production gain in reducing BTSCC from 200,000 down to 150,000 and then maybe to 100,000.

The combination Cepravin-Teatseal cows averaged a BTSCC of 70,000 in spring time, compared with Cepravin-only cows averaging 200,000.

Across the 300 cows treated with combination, the potential gain based on this level of BTSCC reduction would be $20,600, based on an $8.50 payout, an average production of 400kg milksolids (MS)/cow and calculated using SmartSAMM cost estimates.

This is in addition to the savings from the reduction in clinical mastitis of $3100 for the 300 cows in the Combo Cepravin-Teatseal group.

Bates’ conservative view is the gain in combination Teatseal-Clephalonium treatment might be about $15,000, and the additional saving in less clinical mastitis of $3100.

“We are looking at a return of between four and five to one, based on an $8.50/kg MS payout.”

Total
0
Shares
People are also reading