Conference Relates Latest Mastitis Research
UK - Since the early 1990s, vets, farmers, scientists and the dairy industry have gone to the British Mastitis Conference to share tips and learn about the latest research into this painful condition, which results in loss of milk production and quality.
16 January 2009
1 minute read
According to the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), which sponsored this conference, over one million UK dairy cows a year suffer from mastitis, a painful and occasionally life-threatening bacterial infection of the udder. Infection, which in the face of strict hygiene, comes mainly from pasture and bedding and can only be controlled by large scale use of antibiotics.
Vet Andy Biggs has been involved with the conference since it began in the early 1990s. He said, "It's a good combination of technology and multi-directional factual transfer from vets, farmers, research workers and the industry. It's become the flagship mastitis event in the calendar. So much so that vets and dairy farmers are now setting up a lameness conference using the same format."
The latest mastitis research includes that of Professor Jamie Leigh from the University of Nottingham's School of Veterinary Medicine & Science, in collaboration with Dr Tracey Coffey at IAH, Royal Veterinary College, University of Oxford and the US Department of Agriculture. Professor Leigh explains, "we can compare immune responses to the Streptococcus uberis bacterium, produced by the cow, to identify which help control the infection, and which contribute to the disease itself."
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