Abstract

Mastitis is inflammation of the mammary gland, including not only intramammary tissues but also related anatomical structures such as nipples, mammary areolas, milk ducts. The occurrence of disease is an outcome of interplay between three major factors: infectious agents, host resistance, and environmental factors. It is considered to be one of the most important causes of economic losses in the dairy industries worldwide. Clinical Mastitis can be defined as a farmer’s observed abnormality in the milk and/or the udder. Cows are visibly sick, or the milk is visibly abnormal. Subclinical Mastitis is by far the costlier disease in the majority of herds, and is often defined as the presence of a microorganism in combination with an elevated somatic cell count (SCC) of the milk. In Ethiopia, the diseases have got a major on dairy industry and the prevalence of disease has been reported by several authors in different parts of Ethiopia, several of these studies have shown the occurrence of a range of Mastitis causing bacteria, indicating Staphylococcus, Escherichia coli and Streptococcus as dominant and pathogenic species. Even though the disease is insufficiently investigated and information relating to its magnitude, distribution and risk factors is scant, breed, age, parity, tick infestation of udder, sequence of milking, floor, husbandry system, lactation stage and hygiene of udder were reported to be important risk factors for the prevalence of bovine Mastitis in Ethiopia. The diagnostic tests commonly used in Ethiopia are: California Mastitis test (CMT), bacterial culture and isolation direct microscopy, indicator paper test. Mastitis remain the most devastating disease in livestock production. Especially, the sub-clinical Mastitis remains to be an obscure and latent form of this disease that poses more serious economic losses to the dairy livestock sector, as the incidence is much higher in a dairy herd than the clinical one. Therefore, the nature of the disease necessitates research, early detection and effective control programs to be under taken.

Keywords: Bovine Mastitis; Ethiopia; California Mastitis test; Clinical Mastitis; Subclinical Mastitis; Somatic cell count