SCC and Mastitis

[rangergirl56m]

I had a quick question...

When dealing with SCC, will a cow with chronic mastitis have a constantly elevated SCC or only when she has a flair up? Also, how long will a cow with acute mastitis have an increased SCC?

Thanks guys! I emailed my bosses back at the farm but they haven't gotten back to me and I need to finish my paper lol...gotta love classes!

 

[milkmaid]

Chronic cases often don't have significantly increased SCC. I don't remember how long, after being cured, a cow with an acute case still has a high SCC... or how long she'd have a high SCC when she's left alone and the infection becomes chronic.

if you're writing a paper, I'd imagine you need valid sources. Your best bet would probably be to run a seach for the effect of mastitis on SCC... and see what you get. Good luck!

 

[dun]

And just to throw a little more in, elevated SCC doesn;t have to be caused by mastitis. There was a study a few years ago that claimed that the older a cow got to be the higher her cell count would be.

 

[rangergirl56m]

And just to throw a little more in, elevated SCC doesn;t have to be caused by mastitis. There was a study a few years ago that claimed that the older a cow got to be the higher her cell count would be.

Yup, any number of pathogens can cause an increase, as well as age(like you said), and colostrum production but I'm specifically working on a project dealing with Mastitis. I thought SCC would be an easy topic...I guess I should have picked something else! lol Thanks for the help :tiphat:

 

[milkmaid]

And, to add to what dun mentioned... SCC naturally increases in fresh cows and toward the end of the lactation.

 

[TexasBred]

I always wondered if a cow fighting off anykind of infection would have a higher SCC.

 

[bigbull338]

TB you just struck a nerve lolol.yes anytime a cow is really sick her scc would be elavated.an sometimes you cant see cheronic mastitis cases unless you run the CMT or have a culture ran on the milk.