Harm to the Well-being of the Udder at the Level of Dairy Farms of Sidi Mhamed Benali Wilaya of Relizane (Algeria)

Author(s):  
N. Bouhroum ◽  
B. Bensahli

Background: Among the dairy cattle production problems in Algeria, mastitis rank first in terms of socio-economic impact. Our aim is to identify the state of well-being of the udder in order to manage and control mastitis related problems. Methods: The pH analysis of 177 cow milk samples was performed at two farms located in the Sidi Mhamed Benali region in northwest Algeria associated with an assessment (of the udder’s cleanliness degree, the udder’s position, the teat’s hyperkeratosis lesion and the ITH) out over a period of one year (2020-2021). Result: Analysis of mean (of cleanliness, udder position and ITH) between cold and warm season were significantly different at a value of [(4.11; 2.75); (5.19; 4.11); (56.96; 73.76)] respectively. The paper test revealed that the health of the udder is influenced by any variation in cleanliness and the ITH whose correlation coefficient is equal to 0.72 leading to the appearance of subclinical mastitis during the cold season. While during the hot season the bad milking procedure is incriminated in the appearance of hyperkeratosis lesion at a mean value equal to 1 (smooth ring stage) inducing the appearance of clinical mastitis with p less than 0.05, moreover the cows in first lactation are the most influenced by these elicited factors. In conclusion, monitoring and evaluating the well-being of the udder around the parturition is a tool that allows better prevention of mastitis.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 541
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Grudlewska-Buda ◽  
Krzysztof Skowron ◽  
Ewa Wałecka-Zacharska ◽  
Natalia Wiktorczyk-Kapischke ◽  
Jarosław Bystroń ◽  
...  

Mastitis is a major economic problem in dairy herds, as it might decrease fertility, and negatively affect milk quality and milk yield. Out of over 150 bacterial species responsible for the udder inflammation, Escherichia coli is one of the most notable. This study aimed to assess antimicrobial susceptibility, resistance to dipping agents and biofilm formation of 150 E. coli strains isolated from milk of cows with subclinical and clinical mastitis. The strains came from three dairy herds located in Northern and Central Poland. The statistical analyses were performed with post-hoc Bonferroni test and chi-square test (including Yates correction). The data with a p value of <0.05 were considered significant. We found that the tested strains were mostly sensitive to antimicrobials and dipping agents. It was shown that 37.33% and 4.67% of strains were resistant and moderately resistant to at least one antimicrobial agent, respectively. No extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL)-producing E. coli were detected. The majority of strains did not possess the ability to form biofilm or formed a weak biofilm. The strong biofilm formers were found only among strains derived from cows with subclinical mastitis. The lowest bacteria number was noted for subclinical mastitis cows’ strains, after stabilization with iodine (3.77 log CFU × cm−2) and chlorhexidine (3.96 log CFU × cm−2) treatment. In the present study, no statistically significant differences in susceptibility to antibiotics and the ability to form biofilm were found among the strains isolated from cows with subclinical and clinical mastitis. Despite this, infections in dairy herds should be monitored. Limiting the spread of bacteria and characterizing the most common etiological factors would allow proper treatment.


2016 ◽  
Vol 83 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mari Hovinen ◽  
Heli Simojoki ◽  
Reeta Pösö ◽  
Jenni Suolaniemi ◽  
Piret Kalmus ◽  
...  

Activity of lysosomal N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase (NAGase) in milk has been used as an indicator of bovine mastitis. We studied NAGase activity of 808 milk samples from healthy quarters and quarters of cows with spontaneous subclinical and clinical mastitis. Associations between milk NAGase activity and milk somatic cell count (SCC), mastitis causing pathogen, quarter, parity, days in milk (DIM) and season were studied. In addition, the performance of NAGase activity in detecting clinical and subclinical mastitis and distinguishing infections caused by minor and major bacteria was investigated. Our results indicate that NAGase activity can be used to detect both subclinical and clinical mastitis with a high level of accuracy (0·85 and 0·99). Incomplete correlation between NAGase activity and SCC suggests that a substantial proportion of NAGase activity comes from damaged epithelial cells of the udder in addition to somatic cells. We therefore recommend determination of NAGase activity from quarter foremilk after at least six hours from the last milking using the method described. Samples should be frozen before analysis. NAGase activity should be interpreted according to DIM, at least during the first month of lactation. Based on the results of the present study, a reference value for normal milk NAGase activity of 0·1–1·04 pmoles 4-MU/min/μl for cows with ≥30 DIM (196 samples) could be proposed. We consider milk NAGase activity to be an accurate indicator of subclinical and clinical mastitis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lufuno Phophi ◽  
Inge-Marie Petzer ◽  
Daniel Nenene Qekwana

Abstract Background Increased prevalence of antimicrobial resistance, treatment failure, and financial losses have been reported in dairy cows with coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) clinical mastitis, however, studies on CoNS infections are limited in South Africa. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to investigate the antimicrobial resistance patterns and biofilm formation in CoNS isolated from cow milk samples submitted to the Onderstepoort Milk Laboratory. Results A total of 142 confirmed CoNS isolates were used for this study. Biofilm formation was identified in 18% of CoNS tested. Staphylococcus chromogenes (11%) had the highest proportion of biofilm formation followed by S. haemolyticus (4.0%), S. epidermidis, S. hominis, S. xylosus, and S. simulans with 1% respectively. Ninety percent (90%) of CoNS were resistant to at least one antimicrobial (AMR) and 51% were multidrug-resistant (MDR). Resistance among CoNS was the highest to ampicillin (90%) and penicillin (89%), few isolates resistant to cefoxitin and vancomycin, 9% respectively. Similarly, MDR-S. haemolyticus (44%), MDR-S. epidermidis (65%), and MDR-S. chromogenes (52%) were mainly resistant to penicillins. The most common resistance patterns observed were resistance to penicillin-ampicillin (16%) and penicillin-ampicillin-erythromycin (10%). Only 42% of biofilm positive CoNS were MDR. Conclusion The majority of CoNS in this study were resistance to penicillins. In addition, most isolates were β-lactam resistant and MDR. Biofilm formation among the CoNS in this study was uncommon and there was no significant difference in the proportion of MDR-CoNS based on the ability to form a biofilm.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 218-224
Author(s):  
Mulugeta Sosango ◽  
◽  
Amanuel Ashebo ◽  
Demelash Kalo ◽  
◽  
...  

A cross sectional study was conducted between November 2015 and February 2016 in Hawassa town, SNNPR, Ethiopia to determine the overall mastitis prevalence and identify the role of some selected risk factors in 183 randomly selected small holder lactating dairy cows of 53 high grade Holstein Friesian, 113 Holstein indigenous zebu cross and 17 indigenous zebu breeds. The prevalence of clinical mastitis was determined through examination of abnormalities of milk, udder or cow. The prevalence of subclinical mastitis determined by using indicator paper test. From total 183 lactating dairy cows examined for bovine mastitis 9(4.9%) had clinical mastitis, while 56(30.6%) subclinical mastitis. Out of 9(4.9%) clinical mastitis, 9.43 and 3.53% occurred in high grade Holstein and Holstein indigenous zebu, respectively, but indigenous zebu breed was found not affected. Subclinical mastitis at cow level based on indicator paper test was significantly high (32.07%) in Holstein, (30.9%) in cross breed and (23.5%) in indigenous zebu (p<0.05). Quarter level subclinical mastitis prevalence based on indicator paper test was 32.07, 30.2% and 23.5% in Holstein, cross breed and indigenous zebu, respectively. From the potential risk factors considered, breed (X2=17.3, p<0.05), presence of teat lesion and tick infestation (X2=7.73, p<0.05), stage of lactation (X2=13.8, p<0.05), and parity number (X2=19.4, p<0.05) had significant effect on the prevalence of subclinical mastitis. Considering the possible significant economic losses that could be incurred by both clinical and subclinical mastitis, attention should be paid for further detailed investigation and control measures.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6875
Author(s):  
Irene Poza-Casado ◽  
Raquel Gil-Valverde ◽  
Alberto Meiss ◽  
Miguel Ángel Padilla-Marcos

Indoor air quality (IAQ) in educational buildings is a key element of the students’ well-being and academic performance. Window-opening behavior and air infiltration, generally used as the sole ventilation sources in existing educational buildings, often lead to unhealthy levels of indoor pollutants and energy waste. This paper evaluates the conditions of natural ventilation in classrooms in order to study how climate conditions affect energy waste. For that purpose, the impact of the air infiltration both on the IAQ and on the efficiency of the ventilation was evaluated in two university classrooms with natural ventilation in the Continental area of Spain. The research methodology was based on site sensors to analyze IAQ parameters such as CO2, Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC), Particulate Matter (PM), and other climate parameters for a week during the cold season. Airtightness was then assessed within the classrooms and the close built environment by means of pressurization tests, and infiltration rates were estimated. The obtained results were used to set up a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model to evaluate the age of the local air and the ventilation efficiency value. The results revealed that ventilation cannot rely only on air infiltration, and, therefore, specific controlled ventilation strategies should be implemented to improve IAQ and to avoid excessive energy loss.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1884
Author(s):  
Jingjing Hu ◽  
Yansong Bao ◽  
Jian Liu ◽  
Hui Liu ◽  
George P. Petropoulos ◽  
...  

The acquisition of real-time temperature and relative humidity (RH) profiles in the Arctic is of great significance for the study of the Arctic’s climate and Arctic scientific research. However, the operational algorithm of Fengyun-3D only takes into account areas within 60°N, the innovation of this work is that a new technique based on Neural Network (NN) algorithm was proposed, which can retrieve these parameters in real time from the Fengyun-3D Hyperspectral Infrared Radiation Atmospheric Sounding (HIRAS) observations in the Arctic region. Considering the difficulty of obtaining a large amount of actual observation (such as radiosonde) in the Arctic region, collocated ERA5 data from European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and HIRAS observations were used to train the neural networks (NNs). Brightness temperature and training targets were classified using two variables: season (warm season and cold season) and surface type (ocean and land). NNs-based retrievals were compared with ERA5 data and radiosonde observations (RAOBs) independent of the NN training sets. Results showed that (1) the NNs retrievals accuracy is generally higher on warm season and ocean; (2) the root-mean-square error (RMSE) of retrieved profiles is generally slightly higher in the RAOB comparisons than in the ERA5 comparisons, but the variation trend of errors with height is consistent; (3) the retrieved profiles by the NN method are closer to ERA5, comparing with the AIRS products. All the results demonstrated the potential value in time and space of NN algorithm in retrieving temperature and relative humidity profiles of the Arctic region from HIRAS observations under clear-sky conditions. As such, the proposed NN algorithm provides a valuable pathway for retrieving reliably temperature and RH profiles from HIRAS observations in the Arctic region, providing information of practical value in a wide spectrum of practical applications and research investigations alike.All in all, our work has important implications in broadening Fengyun-3D’s operational implementation range from within 60°N to the Arctic region.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 442
Author(s):  
Meiqing Wang ◽  
Ali Youssef ◽  
Mona Larsen ◽  
Jean-Loup Rault ◽  
Daniel Berckmans ◽  
...  

Heart rate (HR) is a vital bio-signal that is relatively easy to monitor with contact sensors and is related to a living organism’s state of health, stress and well-being. The objective of this study was to develop an algorithm to extract HR (in beats per minute) of an anesthetized and a resting pig from raw video data as a first step towards continuous monitoring of health and welfare of pigs. Data were obtained from two experiments, wherein the pigs were video recorded whilst wearing an electrocardiography (ECG) monitoring system as gold standard (GS). In order to develop the algorithm, this study used a bandpass filter to remove noise. Then, a short-time Fourier transform (STFT) method was tested by evaluating different window sizes and window functions to accurately identify the HR. The resulting algorithm was first tested on videos of an anesthetized pig that maintained a relatively constant HR. The GS HR measurements for the anesthetized pig had a mean value of 71.76 bpm and standard deviation (SD) of 3.57 bpm. The developed algorithm had 2.33 bpm in mean absolute error (MAE), 3.09 bpm in root mean square error (RMSE) and 67% in HR estimation error below 3.5 bpm (PE3.5). The sensitivity of the algorithm was then tested on the video of a non-anaesthetized resting pig, as an animal in this state has more fluctuations in HR than an anaesthetized pig, while motion artefacts are still minimized due to resting. The GS HR measurements for the resting pig had a mean value of 161.43 bpm and SD of 10.11 bpm. The video-extracted HR showed a performance of 4.69 bpm in MAE, 6.43 bpm in RMSE and 57% in PE3.5. The results showed that HR monitoring using only the green channel of the video signal was better than using three color channels, which reduces computing complexity. By comparing different regions of interest (ROI), the region around the abdomen was found physiologically better than the face and front leg parts. In summary, the developed algorithm based on video data has potential to be used for contactless HR measurement and may be applied on resting pigs for real-time monitoring of their health and welfare status, which is of significant interest for veterinarians and farmers.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1840
Author(s):  
Ramūnas Antanaitis ◽  
Vida Juozaitienė ◽  
Vesta Jonike ◽  
Vytenis Čukauskas ◽  
Danguolė Urbšienė ◽  
...  

The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between temperament and milk performance in cows at different stages of lactation, describing their productivity, metabolic status and resistance to mastitis. This study showed that with increasing lactation, cows’ temperament indicators decreased (p < 0.001) and they became calmer. The highest temperament score on a five-point scale was found in cows between 45 and 100 days of lactation. In the group of pregnant cows, we found more cows (p = 0.005) with a temperament score of 1–2 compared with non-pregnant cows A normal temperament was usually detected in cows with lactose levels in milk of 4.60% or more and when the somatic cell count (SCC) values in cow milk were <100,000/mL and 100,000–200,000/mL, with a milk fat-to-protein ratio of 1.2. A larger number of more sensitive and highly aggressive cows was detected at a low milk urea level. In contrast to a positive phenotypic correlation (p < 0.05), this study showed a negative genetic correlation between the temperament of cows and milk yield (p < 0.001). Positive genetic correlations between temperament scores and milk somatic cells (p < 0.001) and milk fat-to-protein ratio (p < 0.05) were found to indicate a lower genetic predisposition in cows with a calmer temperament to subclinical mastitis and ketosis. On the other hand, the heritability of temperament (h2 = 0.044–0.100) showed that only a small part of the phenotypic changes in this indicator is associated with genetic factors.


2005 ◽  
Vol 27 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 255-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Genevieve LeMoine ◽  
James Helmer ◽  
Bjarne Grønnow

Abstract Late Dorset dwellings from two sites on Little Cornwallis Island (Nunavut) illustrate the diversity of architectural forms from this period. Ten architectural features are described. They include five tent rings, ascribed to warm season occupations, and five rectangular semi-subterranean houses with axial features, including one exceptionally well-preserved example, ascribed to cold season occupations. Variations in size, number of hearths, and construction techniques are examined and the use of both types of structures to house multiple nuclear families is suggested.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Aarsha Raj ◽  
Vinodkumar Kulangara ◽  
Tresamol P. Vareed ◽  
Deepa P. Melepat ◽  
Latha Chattothayil ◽  
...  

Abstract Variations in the levels of acute phase proteins and lactoferrin in serum and milk for diagnosis of subclinical mastitis in dairy cows are described in this research paper. Milking animals from two organized dairy farms in Kerala, India, were screened by California Mastitis Test (CMT), Electrical Conductivity test (EC) and Somatic Cell Count (SCC) test to identify animals affected with sub clinical mastitis (SCM). The concentrations of acute phase proteins (APP) Haptoglobin (Hp), C- reactive protein (CRP), Albumin, Lactoferrin (Lf) and α- 1 acid glycoprotein (AGP) in milk and Hp, Albumin, Serum Amyloid A (SAA) and CRP in the serum of 40 normal cows and 40 cows affected with sub clinical mastitis were assessed. Solid phase ELISA was employed for assessment of all parameters except the albumin levels, for which spectrophotometry was used. The values of Hp in milk; and SAA, AGP and Lf in serum, were significantly elevated in the group with sub clinical mastitis. Such variations were found to be independent of the specific bacterial organism causing the disease. These results show that significant variations exist in the levels of acute phase proteins Hp, AGP and Lf in milk, and SAA in serum of animals affected with subclinical bovine mastitis that are not affected by specific bacterial etiology.


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