AN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF CHRONIC MASTITIS ('MAMMARY ABSCESSES') DURING LATE LACTATION IN THE SOW

摘要

In the sow the outcome of chronic infections in the mammary glands is often a complete destruction of the tissue of affected glands causing an irreversible cease in milk production, and thus predisposing to malnutrition of the offspring. Most studiesin this field have focused on bacteriological aspects (2,4) although in some of them clinical information about incidence of the disease have been included (1,5). Data from Sweden, show that, in conventional herds, 7 % of the culled sows are culled due to mastitis, whereas the corresponding figure for the "sow-pool" system is 13 % (3). The objectives of the present investigations were to determine the health status of sows and their mammary glands around weaning and to evaluate possible risk factors for occurrence of mastitis at the individual level.