Special Issue "New Microbiological, Clinical and Management Features for Improving the Udder Health and Milk Quality in Animals"

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Veterinary Clinical Studies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Luca Turini
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Pisa, 56122 Pisa, Italy
Interests: udder health; mastitis; animal welfare; ruminants; milk quality
Dr. Fabrizio Bertelloni
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Special Issue Information

Mastitis, defined as an inflammation of the mammary gland caused by different types of pathogens, is the most economically important disease of dairy cows and small ruminants. It affects the milk quality and hygiene and represents a welfare problem for the affected animals. Management such as the type of farming, (extensive vs. semi-extensive systems for small ruminants), dry period procedures, bedding and milking routine could play a critical role in udder health due to an increased risk of intra-mammary infections. On the other hand, all these factors could also reduce milk quality and hygiene indirectly; indeed, the population of microorganisms present in milk reflects both the health status of the udder as well as the whole environment and management of the farm.

Considering the impact and importance of mastitis and milk hygiene on milk farms and production industries, this Special Issue aims to illuminate the current integrative research concerning the epidemiology, management practices, welfare, microbiologic and clinical features of mastitis and milk hygiene.

You are invited to submit either an original article or a review summarizing different types of research on mastitis. Articles highlighting and documenting any aspect of mastitis diagnosis, prevention and control as well manuscripts describing effect of the environment and management on milk quality are welcome and will be taken into consideration for the publication. Although work on ruminants is the primary focus of this Special Issue, investigations into mastitis in non-conventional dairy species or other animals will also be evaluated.

Dr. Luca Turini
Dr. Fabrizio Bertelloni
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • mastitis
  • milk
  • management
  • environment
  • hygiene
  • ruminants
  • diagnosis
  • prevention
  • control
  • epidemiology

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Article
Milk Lactose as a Biomarker of Subclinical Mastitis in Dairy Cows
Animals 2021, 11(6), 1736; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11061736 - 10 Jun 2021
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Abstract
Bovine subclinical mastitis can cause great harm to dairy herds because of its negative impact on milk production and quality and cow health. Improved diagnostic tools are needed to maximise the control of subclinical mastitis distribution and ensure the high quality of milk [...] Read more.
Bovine subclinical mastitis can cause great harm to dairy herds because of its negative impact on milk production and quality and cow health. Improved diagnostic tools are needed to maximise the control of subclinical mastitis distribution and ensure the high quality of milk as an industrial product. Between 2015 and 2020, seventy-two dairy herds were screened for bovine subclinical mastitis causative agents to identify the relationship between seasons, lactose levels and subclinical mastitis infection. The predominant species found in the milk samples were mixed microbiota, coagulase-negative Staphylococcus and Staphylococcus aureus. Yeasts were found exclusively in autumn, while Enterococcus spp. and Escherichia coli were only found in summer and autumn. A negative correlation was detected between milk lactose and number of somatic cells in milk (−0.471; p < 0.001). The lactose levels in milk were closely associated with the prevalence (%) of subclinical mastitis pathogens, such as Streptococcus agalactiae (y = −1.8011x + 10.867, R2 = 0.9298), Staph. aureus (y = −3.5216x + 25.957, R2 = 0.8604) and other Streptococci (y = −0.5956x + 7.6179, R2 = 0.6656). These findings suggest that milk lactose may be used as a biomarker of suspected udder inflammation in modern health prevention programmes for cows to reduce the prevalence of subclinical mastitis pathogens in dairy cattle herds. Full article
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Communication
Influence of Calving Ease on In-Line Milk Lactose and Other Milk Components
Animals 2021, 11(3), 842; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11030842 - 16 Mar 2021
Viewed by 487
Abstract
The aim of our study was to determine how the ease of calving of cows may influence changes in lactose concentration and other milk components and whether these two factors correlate with each other. To achieve this, we compared data of calving ease [...] Read more.
The aim of our study was to determine how the ease of calving of cows may influence changes in lactose concentration and other milk components and whether these two factors correlate with each other. To achieve this, we compared data of calving ease scores and average percentage of in-line registered milk lactose and other milk components. A total of 4723 dairy cows from nine dairy farms were studied. The cows were from the second to the fourth lactation. All cows were classified according to the calving ease: group 1 (score 1)—no problems; group 2 (score 2)—slight problems; group 3 (score 3)—needed assistance; group 4 (score 4)—considerable force or extreme difficulty. Based on the data from the milking robots, during complete lactation we recorded milk indicators: milk yield MY (kg/day), milk fat (MF), milk protein (MP), lactose (ML), milk fat/lactose ratio (MF/ML), milk protein/lactose ratio (MP/ML), milk urea (MU), and milk electrical conductivity (EC) of all quarters of the udder. According to the results, we found that cows that had no calving difficulties, also had higher milk lactose concentration. ML > 4.7% was found in 58.8% of cows without calving problems. Cows with more severe calving problems had higher risk of mastitis (SCC and EC). Our data indicates that more productive cows have more calving problems compared to less productive ones. Full article
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