A bulk tank milk survey of Ostertagia ostertagi antibodies in dairy herds in Prince Edward Island and their relationship with herd management factors and milk yield

The objective of this study was to quantify the relationship of the levels of antibodies to Ostertagia ostertagi in bulk-tank milk samples from Prince Edward Island (PEI) dairy farms to milk production and to herd-management practices potentially related to gastrointestinal nematode infections. The milk samples were obtained from 289 to 322 dairy farms during 2000; production and management data were available from 197 and 200 farms, respectively. Cow exposure to pasture and whole-herd anthelmintic treatment were the only herd management variables significantly associated with antibody levels in the fall of 2000. An increase in antibody levels from the observed 25th percentile to the 75th percentile (interquartile range) was associated with a drop in milk production of 1.2 kg/cow/day. The results of this study indicate that the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for O. ostertagi antibody is a potentially useful technique to measure parasite exposure in adult dairy cows and that parasite burdens in lactating cattle in PEI have an important impact on milk production.