RESISTANCE TO AVAILABLE ANTIBIOTICS IN LACTATING COWS WITH MASTITIS
PROGRESS TO DATE – 26 October 2015 (as a continuation of update submitted on 17
August 2015)
Utilization of funds
See attached Faculty statement for A0Y232. The expense of R 45 000 reflects the student stipend
for the MSc student, Nicolene Schlimmer through the end of June 2016. No payment has yet been
made to the Milk Laboratory at Onderstepoort. It is now anticipated that the expense for herd visits
will be incurred during the 1st quarter of 2016 following preliminary analysis of the survey results.
Culture & sensitivity testing of organisms isolated from mastitic milk samples
Milk Laboratory, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Onderstepoort
Co-workers: Joane Karzis & Inge-Marie Petzer
Status: 108 samples/cows from 12 farms have been tested in the Milk Lab. Mastitic milk samples are
tested at the cow level & consequently there could be antimicrobial sensitivities for the same
organism from different cows in the same herd.
Variation of SCC, including by season, by region & by herd type (grazing vs. TMR)
nationwide: a retrospective.
MSc (Epidemiology) student: Alf Lategan (registered).
Status: A database has been created by Bobbie vd Westhuizen of Stamboek/Logix but we are still
challenged in finding a suitable format for analysis. A weather database has been provided by
Weather SA.
Determining the context in which mastitis treatment failure occurs / State of the art
regarding mastitis treatment & prevention in South African dairy herds.
MSc (BSc Agric Hon) student: Nicolene Schlimmer.
MS (Business Economics): Leen Leenaerts
Status: Work has continued on the survey, still on target to be completed by the end of October,
with the intent of submitting it at the end of November.
High SCC problem peculiar to the Eastern Cape
A 1st draft protocol for this project has been completed.