Boot swabs to collect environmental samples from common locations in dairy herds for Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP) detection.

The aim of the present study was the examination of the boot swab sampling technique for the collection of environmental material in order to identify Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP)-infected herds. Eight dairy herds were included into the study.

Feedback-based, system-level properties of vertebrate-microbial interactions.

Background: Improved characterization of infectious disease dynamics is required. To that end, three-dimensional (3D) data analysis of feedback-like processes may be considered.

Methods: To detect infectious disease data patterns, a systems biology (SB) and evolutionary biology (EB) approach was evaluated, which utilizes leukocyte data structures designed to diminish data variability and enhance discrimination.

The effect of dry cow antibiotic with and without an internal teat sealant on udder health during the first 100 d of lactation: a field study with matched pairs.

The objective of this field study was to compare the udder health status as well as the clinical mastitis rate during the first 100 d of lactation in cows that received long-acting dry cow antibiotic alone (group AB) or in combination with an internal teat sealant (group AB + OS). The study was conducted during a 9-month period and included 136 Holstein cows from 12 dairy farms in Hessia, Germany. Between days 1 and 5 after calving a California mastitis test (CMT) was performed.

Microscopic differential cell counts in milk for the evaluation of inflammatory reactions in clinically healthy and subclinically infected bovine mammary glands.

Somatic cell count (SCC) is generally regarded as an indicator of udder health. A cut-off value of 100×10(3) cells/ml is currently used in Germany to differentiate between normal and abnormal secretion of quarters. In addition to SCC, differential cell counts (DCC) can be applied for a more detailed analysis of the udder health status.

Evaluation of three molecular methods of repetitive element loci for differentiation of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP).

The aim of the present study is to evaluate the efficiency of three methods to determine the molecular diversity of 34 Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) strains isolated from 17 cattle herds. The applied methods included the analysis of sequence polymorphism of the mononucleotide (G1 and G2) and trinucleotide sequences (GGT) of the Short Sequence Repeats (SSR) and the determination of size polymorphism of 9 different Mycobacterial Interspersed Repetitive Units (MIRU) and 6 Variable Number Tandem Repeats (VNTR).

The epidemiology of Staphylococcus aureus infections from subclinical mastitis in dairy cows during a control programme.

The objective was to investigate the spread of S. aureus in seven dairy herds. Milk samples were taken to determine mastitis pathogens and somatic cell count.