Microbiological method for diagnosis of clinical bovine mastitis

The purpose of this study was to compare results of three milk cultivation procedures for diagnosis of mastites: ''in natura'', freezing for 12 hours at -20 degrees C and incubation for 12 hours at 37 degrees C. A total of 256 milk samples from 200 cows (from five different farms) with clinical mastitis were examined. The bacteriological results showed an increase in the isolation of Staphylococcus sp for both treatments. Regarding Klebsiella sp and Pseudomonas sp, a significant increase was observed only after incubation. For Corynebacterium bovis, there was a reduction after incubation, but no difference between post-freezing and ''in natura'' results was observed. Based upon these results, a combination of the three procedures is advised in order to obtain more precise diagnosis and consequently more adequate therapy.