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Applying internal teat sealants at drying off; does full versus partial insertion of the tube cannula matter?
Bedford, C.; Mahen, P; Aplin, K...
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Objectives: Internal teat sealant (ITS) and intramammary antibiotic application tubes can often be used with either a short or a long insertion cannula. Leelahapongsathon et al (2016) found that intramammary infection in early postpartum was significantly associated with full cannula insertion for the administration of antibiotic dry cow therapy (ADCT). There is a lack of published work on the effect of using full (FI) or partial (PI) cannula insertion for the administration of ITS. Our randomised control trial aimed to test the hypothesis that FI could increase the risk of introducing new infections into the udder leading to higher somatic cell counts (SCC) post-calving and a greater incidence of mastitis post calving comparing to PI.
Materials and methods: Three pedigree Holstein UK dairy farms were selected to take part in the study over a period of six months. The farmers selected which cows were to be dried off each week and dictated whether each cow would receive internal teat sealant only (ITS, Ubroseal® Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health UK Ltd) or intramammary antibiot- ic and internal teat sealant (AB+ITS). Cows were then randomised to receive ITS or AB+ITS via either FI or PI of the cannula/e. The facilitator was blinded to the insertion type until the cow was enrolled. One farm opted to only allow enrolment of cows receiving ITS as the antibiotic tubes used at dry off did not have the option of partial cannula insertion. The facilitator was trained in best practise aseptic technique for drying-off cows by three different experts in the field. All farms milk recorded monthly and the SCC data collected was collated along with incidence of mastitis within 30 days of calving. Cure rates (cows with SCC>200K cells/ml before drying off having a first test of SCC<200k cells/ ml after calving) and new infection rates (cows with SCC<200K cells/ml before drying off having a first test of SCC>200k cells/ ml after calving) were calculated from these data. Univariable and multivariable regression analyses were employed for data analysis.
Results: 287 cows were included in the study, 47% of the cows received full insertion of the cannula/e (n = 135), 30% of the cows received AB+ITS as allocated by the farmers (n = 86). There was no evidence to allow us to reject the null hypothesis; there was no difference in post-calving SCC, new infection rates, cure rates, or mastitis incidence when compar- ing FI versus PI. With regards to cows with low SCC before drying off, cows receiving PI were 1.01 times as likely to have high SCC post calving as cows receiving FI (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.42 to 2.46, P = 0.98). Cows in their second or greater lactation and cows calving in the Spring or Summer were more likely to acquire a new infection compared to cows in their first lactation and cows calving in the Autumn respectively. Factors associated with a high SCC post calving were: calving season, infection status before drying off, and lactation group; treatment (PI vs FI) was not statistically significantly associated with this outcome either. PI versus FI was also not associated with the cure rate post calving (cows receiving PI were 1.45 times as likely to have low SCC post calving as cows receiving FI; 95% CI: 0.30 to 7.06, P = 0.65). Cows in their first lactation were 9.86 times more likely to cure an infection comparing to older cows (95% CI: 0.83 to 117.62, P = 0.07). Cows in their second or greater lactation were 5.23 times more likely to be diagnosed with clinical mastitis the first month after calving comparing to cows in their first lactation (95% CI: 1.34 to 20.31, P = 0.02). Treatment (PI vs FI) was not associated with mastitis incidence.
Conclusions: In conclusion this study showed that when the correct aseptic technique is used for drying cows off there is no difference in post-calving infection status or mastitis incidence when comparing FI versus PI.
Acknowledgements: This study was funded by Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health UK Ltd. The funder was involved in the study design but not in data collection and analysis.
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Affiliation of the authors at the time of publication
Livestock Health and Welfare, Institute of Veterinary Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom; Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health UK Ltd, Bracknell, United Kingdom.
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