Dairy cow mastitis campaign examines need for antibiotic treatment
22nd June 2025
New data from CVS Farm’s recently launched dairy cow mastitis campaign has revealed that approximately 30% of its Mastatest submissions have either identified no bacteria or bacteria which do not benefit from antibiotic use.
As a result, farmers have been encouraged to treat affected cows with non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDS) while awaiting their Mastatest results, then use the results to administer an appropriate treatment for their cow’s mastitis – where over one in four cases do not actually need antibiotic therapy.
Launched in July 2023, CVS Farm’s dairy cow mastitis campaign, which operates across 15 of its farm practices UK-wide, aims to improve the role of farm vets in dairy cow mastitis decision-making – using culture and sensitivity testing.
The project uses diagnostic testing to inform appropriate treatments and management decisions, as well as to target antibiotic treatment only where indicated. It is hoped the project will reduce the use of antibiotics, lower their systemic use, and help to guard against antimicrobial resistance in the future.
Mastatest technology
Bovine mastitis is an inflammatory response of the udder tissue in the mammary gland caused by physical trauma or microorganism infections. It is considered the most common disease leading to economic loss in the dairy industry due to reduced yield and poor quality of milk.
Less than half of mild to moderate clinical mastitis cases are likely to benefit from antibiotic therapy. It is vital to differentiate them from those that will benefit from prompt treatment, CVS Farm experts said.
A major barrier to achieving this has been the need to send milk samples off to a lab, resulting in a turnaround time of 48 hours or more and a delay in treatment.
To overcome this barrier, CVS has invested in Mastatest technology for all 15 of its farm practices. They are now able to perform in-house milk sample culture and sensitivity testing in 20-24 hours – to identify if pathogens are present and which, if any, antibiotics are most suitable as a treatment.
Emails containing each set of Mastatest results are sent to CVS’ vets and their farmers as soon as they are produced. Treatment plans – predetermined by the vet and farmer when initially setting up the Mastatest machine – can then immediately be actioned. A live online dashboard also allows both parties to view summary data across all samples tested.
‘Practical and effective day-to-day care’
CVS’ Farm Vets started to introduce the new dairy cow Mastatest quality improvement project in July 2023. The group has now run nearly 700 clinical samples and 150 high cell count milk samples. From clinical case samples tested so far, 34% had either had no bacterial growth or E.coli infection. It is likely that these cows would go on to self-cure without the need for antibiotics.
S.uberis has been found in 16% of clinical case samples to date, requiring antibiotic treatment. By looking at the results of Mastatest antibiotic sensitivity testing for S.uberis, CVS Farm practices have been able to move away from broad-spectrum category C antibiotics to narrow-spectrum category D penicillins to further safeguard antibiotic use.
Steven Carragher, farm quality improvement lead at CVS Farm, said: “Bovine mastitis is a significant cause of financial loss to dairy farmers. Our farm practices want to provide practical and effective day-to-day care.
“The rapid Mastatest technology and support we’ve set up in every practice is proving to quickly result in the right treatment for individual cases of mastitis. The programme is also a significant step towards reducing unnecessary antibiotic use, helping to safeguard against antimicrobial resistance and aiming to increase the health, welfare and productivity of cows on dairy farms.”
The Mastatest campaign has been a team-wide project within CVS Farm practices. Whilst farm staff and vets have taken samples on the farm, administration staff and vet techs have set up and run the samples on Mastatest machines within practice.
CVS Farm is taking a ‘One Health’ approach to clinical improvement and developing practical projects to address related challenges, such as antimicrobial resistance and improving animal welfare.
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