DefinePK

Abstract

Hygiene and biosecurity on dairy farms reduce the incidence of mastitis and other infectious diseases. Bovine mastitis, a common infectious condition, causes cattle culling and reduces milk output and quality, causing significant economic loss. This study studied the association between environmental mastitis, hygienic milking practices, and dairy cattle milk output. In addition, a thorough microbiological examination to detect the most important environmental indicator bacteria that cause mastitis, such as Streptococcus spp., Staphylococcus spp., Pseudomonas spp., and E. coli spp., helps determine the best mastitis control protocols. Three visits to a dairy farm in Qalioubia governorate, Egypt, yielded 285 samples (186 environmental, 27 workers, 72 milk samples, and swabs). Staphylococcus spp., Streptococcus, Pseudomonas spp., and E. coli were the farm’s most common bacteria, with an average hygiene score of 59%. Cow milk output peaked in May at 4252L. With clinical mastitis incidence in June and July, it steadily decreased, reaching 3343L in August in cows with the condition. Bovine Ephemeral Fever (BEF) complicated clinical mastitis during this decrease. Due to farm workers’ lack of biosecurity awareness, several biosecurity and personal hygiene processes in the dairy farm were flawed, so the farm was infected with BEF, which complicated the losses, as it was $9,348.86/100 cows because of clinical mastitis and became $53,561.29 after a complication with viral infection, these exorbitant losses draw the need for training on the importance and the use of these measures. Overall, the results highlighted the critical role of hygiene and biosecurity measures in reducing mastitis and other infectious diseases on dairy farms, as it identified a significant link between poor hygiene milking practices and environmental mastitis caused by Streptococcus spp., Staphylococcus spp., Pseudomonas spp., and E. coli, which adversely affects milk output and quality. These findings emphasize the need to enhance biosecurity and hygiene awareness among farm workers to mitigate environmental mastitis-causing bacteria to improve farm management and productivity. Keywords: Environmental Mastitis, Hygienic Milking Practices, Biosecurity, Bacterial Prevalence, Economic Losses.