Knowing the classification of a mastitis case can help you choose which animals to treat, saving you money and improving judicious antibiotic use.

Clinical mastitis cure versus bacteriological cure … is there a difference between the two? Does it really matter? In a word, yes. In a few more words, it matters because the difference between achieving one and not both can be the two things that make or break a dairy’s bottom line: lost productivity and increased costs.

Determining the infecting bacteria type allows for a more guided treatment decision. Not all producers can work with a veterinarian to culture milk samples, and results from on-farm culturing can be difficult to interpret. However, being able to at least categorize the infecting pathogen can provide valuable information.

When it comes to the topic of contagious mastitis in dairy cows, the conversation usually revolves around the well-known pathogens Staphylococcus aureus and mycoplasma, with the occasional nod to Streptococcus agalactiae.

There is no doubt that the use of routine cultures for mastitis pathogens, both contagious and environmental, is a powerful management tool for maintaining good udder health and milk quality in progressive dairy herds.