RISK FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THE INCIDENCE OF CLINICAL MASTITIS IN DAIRY HERDS WITH A HIGH MILK YIELD AND A Low BULK MILK SOMATIC CELL COUNT

摘要

One important goal for the dairy industry in Sweden today is to reduce unnecessary usage of antibiotics in treatments of cows. The payment system, however, benefits farmers whose herd has a high milk yield and a low somatic cell count (SCC). This mayresult in an increased treatment incidence of mastitis. Knowledge about how the incidence of clinical mastitis (CM) is kept low, while maintaining the requirements of the dairy industry and of the consumer, is still insufficient. Several studies have examined potential risk factors for bovine CM (1, 2, 3, 4), but none have distinguished between herds with a long term (> two years) high or low incidence of CM. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify management and environmental factors associated with the incidence of CM in such herds.