Staph aureus

[novaman]

I'm assuming ownership of the family dairy in May. Currently my grandmother is the head of the operation and her attention to detail is slightly lacking. Anyway there was a breakout of Staph over this past summer. She hadn't dipped or anything prior to this event. Just hook em up and when they were done, kick em out. Well we've implemented a dipping program (sort of :roll: ) and we now have the SCC down to a halfway acceptable level. Obviously I'm quite concerned with the Staph problem. I know the easy thing to do is find the worst cows and boot them. That may happen but I need to keep some cows on board until I can get the problem corrected. I guess my question is, if you were in this situation what sort of steps would you be taking to get things back on track? I have a good idea what I will do but I figure outside input can never hurt.

 

[milkmaid]

There's a few posts from a year or two ago in the Got Milk section about staph if you look far enough... there were some folks here for a bit with some really good ideas that boss and I implemented.

My thoughts...

1) Identify (by culture - NOT assumption) and mark all positive staph aureus cows. We used yellow bands for positive staph cows, red for hot (treated) cows, and green for 3-quartered cows.

2) Any marked staph cow does not get treated for mastitis at any point in time - it's a waste of money. They can be subclinical (no visual signs) for months at a time between flareups, or they can be a chronic low-grade clinical cow. Both are virtually incurable.

3) The milkers coming off all marked staph cows must be dipped in an iodine or chlorine solution. We found this to very nearly prevent any new cases of staph aureus.

4) And the usual... wear gloves, one towel per cow, dip teats, etc.

With those steps you can gradually cull the staph cows. Might not ever completely eliminate staph from your herd, but you can get it down to a managable level. Some folks also put positive staph cows in their own pen and milk them last, which is a possibility if you have enough cows and are set up for separate pens. We weren't and therefore dipping the milkers was the best solution.

 

[bigbull338]

I'm assuming ownership of the family dairy in May. Currently my grandmother is the head of the operation and her attention to detail is slightly lacking. Anyway there was a breakout of Staph over this past summer. She hadn't dipped or anything prior to this event. Just hook em up and when they were done, kick em out. Well we've implemented a dipping program (sort of :roll: ) and we now have the SCC down to a halfway acceptable level. Obviously I'm quite concerned with the Staph problem. I know the easy thing to do is find the worst cows and boot them. That may happen but I need to keep some cows on board until I can get the problem corrected. I guess my question is, if you were in this situation what sort of steps would you be taking to get things back on track? I have a good idea what I will do but I figure outside input can never hurt.

been there done that.so i know what your fixing to go though.an heres things ive done an would do.1 id get milk samples of cows milking.send them off an have them scced an cultered.this will help you alot.youll know what cows have a scc over 750,000.any cows with that are clinical cases.an they need tobe treated or culled.2 you can start using a barrier sealent teat dipp like ABS undergold.thats some good stuff.an it works.but its real expensive.3 after you wash their baggs an teats.use a colth wash ragg to dry their udder.an only use 1 wash cloth.never an i mean never use a washclothe on 2 cows.because if you do your speading the pathagens to other cows.3 dipp your milkers in clorine bleach between each cow.4 seperate your problem an bucket cows an milk them last.that way you cut the risk of speading anything.5 clearly mrk any problem or treated cows.YOU DO NOT WANT TREATED MILK IN THE BULK TANK..if that happens flush the tank down the drain.if antibotics get in the tank.you just bought a tanker load of milk.now none of this will be easy.but it has tobe done if you want to keep milking cows.an you can never let up on the procedures i just desirbed.because if you do your in trouble again.

 

[hillsdown]

Here is another question are they in loafing ,stanchion or free stall barn and what kind of bedding do they have?

If it is a freestall situation, use sawdust if at all possible and keep their stalls spotless all the time. You will see a huge difference in the scc's.(Rake stalls at least before every milking.)

Other than that what everyone else said keep the milking area and milk them in sterile conditions if you can and cull when you can. Different milk line acid etc.

Also talk to your supplier about things you can do for your milk line to ensure that it is clean. Different milk line acid etc.

Staph is a five letter word you never want to hear.

Good luck, it takes time but it can be done.