The Mastitis Panel, made up of 28 experts representing the dairy veterinary sector and facilitated by MSD Animal Health, met in Milton Keynes recently, where they discussed the fact that there is need for collaboration across the industry to provide confidence in prescribed mastitis treatment protocols.

“Prescribed veterinary medicines and their on-label protocols are based on a tremendous amount of scientific evidence that has enabled them to be licensed in the first place. They are proven to deliver control when used under the correct label recommendations" said Professor David Barrett, BCVA president who chaired the panel.

“We need to ensure vets and farmers are talking about how these products work when it comes to clinical mastitis cases, and the right protocols to follow, as this will help address any concerns and overcomes any commonplace myths”.

“For example, farmers may interpret continued changes in milk after a course of mastitis treatment as a sign that further treatment is needed, but actually it’s the nature of the inflammatory response that means it takes time for the symptoms to clear up,” he added.

“We’re all passionate about ensuring responsible use of antibiotics and licensed treatments. Ultimately, we want to see a drop in cases of clinical mastitis, but for this to happen, we need to prioritise farmer-vet conversations around treating and managing this tenacious disease.

“There is a real opportunity for the dairy industry to work with farmers to improve knowledge and training on dealing with one of the biggest daily challenges on farm – clinical mastitis cases,” concluded Professor Barrett.