Clinical forum: the responsible use of antimicrobial therapy in the control of clinical mastitis and somatic cell count in dairy herds

The reduction and rationalisation of antibiotics used in mastitis control is an increasingly important area of dairy herd health to consider with clients due to the outcomes of the O'Neill Report and the requirement to reduce overall usage of antibiotic in the livestock sector at a national level. There is much interest around a range of strategies to achieve a reduction in antibiotic use on farm, for example cow-side treatment decisions to not use intramammary therapy and deciding not to treat low cell count cows at drying-off. However, the key driver of a reduction in antibiotic use on farm remains strategies to reduce the rate of new clinical cases and new cell count infections on farm, and therefore avoiding the need for antibiotic treatment of infected cows. This article reviews some recent research literature around some of the areas mentioned, and seeks thoughts from panel members active in mastitis control on farm.