LFP 211: Livestock Farm Practice (0+1)

TESTS FOR MASTITIS

• Mastitis is one of the great banes to dairying. In this country, large number of milk animals have been reported to be suffering from clinical and subclinical forms of mastitis.
• The earlier a case of mastitis is detected the better it can be treated and better will be the recovery. Hence, there is necessity to perform periodical tests and diagnose all animals with sub-clinical forms or early stages of mastitis.
• Two most practical tests used for detecting mastitis are the Strip Cup Test and the California Mastitis Test (CMT).

Strip Cup Test

• Strip Cup test comprises of letting the first few streams of milk from each quarter on to the black disc of strip cup. This will show up any clots, which only occur in the fore-milk in mild cases of mastitis, and will permit early treatment.
• Addition of an anionic detergent (such as alkyl sulphates or sulphonates, Teepol) to mastitic milk results in formation of typical gel streaks or clumps, according to the degree of abnormality of milk.

California Mastitis Test (CMT)

• The California Mastitis Test is based on this principle that the indicator dye present in CMT reagent detects the change of pH of milk and the gel formation indicates in cell count.
• Milk from each of the four quarters is drawn into separate cups within a plastic paddle fitted with a handle, the cups being marked A, B, C and D to correspond with the quarters so designated.
• All the milch animals should be screened for mastitis by strip cup test or CMT test at least once in a month, preferably more frequently. The sub clinically positive animals should be isolated from the herd and treated immediately.