How 10 Belgian dairy farms take control of Strep. uberis mastitis by vaccination
Mastitis caused by Strep. uberis is a big concern in the dairy industry, due to its impact on animal health and the profitability of farm. That’s why there are more and more farms that have decided to start vaccination, achieving good results. A statistical analysis was done on 10 dairy farms in Belgium to see the effect of vaccination with UBAC®. Results were presented at the Belgian Buiatrics Congress ‘23. Do you want to know them?
What was analysed?
The objective of the study was to know the effect of vaccination with a mastitis vaccine (UBAC®, HIPRA) against Streptococcus uberis in 10 commercial dairy farms in Belgium.
Specifically, the effect of UBAC on the clinical mastitis rate and bSCC was analysed
Farms and Methodology
The participating farms had an average size of 90 Holstein and/or Red Pied cows, and the average milk production was 9,003 kg (305-days equivalent).
All dairy cows were vaccinated with UBAC®, including the dry cows, lactating cows, and heifers around calving; following the protocol recommended by the veterinarian.
Data from two periods were compared: 12 months pre-vaccination (Year 0) and 12 months after the vaccination (Year 1).
The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that were analysed were the clinical mastitis rate and the bSCC.
What are the benefits of vaccination?
Results showed an improvement in the bSCC in Year 1 compared to Year 0, with significant differences. Cellcounts are improving from 325,780 cells/ml to 240,680 cells/ml on average. (p-value: 0.006)
There was an average decrease of 24% in bSCC after vaccination
The results of the clinical mastitis rate were also significantly better in Year 1. Before vaccination, there were 0.88 clinical mastitis cases per cow per year; and after vaccination it was reduced to 0.32 clinical mastitis cases per cow per year. (p-value: 0.002)
There was an astonishing average decrease of 64,46% of the clinical mastitis cases.
What can we conclude?
This study shows that vaccination against Strep. uberis is an effective tool in reducing clinical mastitis cases and improving bSCC in the 10 participating Belgian farms.
These results will lead to other benefits, such as a reduced use of antibiotics, better welfare and higher profitability.
