Non-antibiotic approaches at drying-off for treating and preventing intramammary infections: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Intramammary infection (IMI) treatment and prevention at drying-off is one of the leading causes for using antimicrobials on dairy farms. The objective of the current paper is to describe the protocol used for conducting a systematic review of the literature on non-antibiotic strategies that can be used on dairy cows at dry off to treat and prevent IMI. Relevant literature will be identified using a combination of database search strategies and iterative screening of references.