Control of Staphlococcus aureus Mastitis through Hygiene

Hygienic procedures:

1. Milkers should always wear gloves and change them frequently, especially when dirty or after stripping an infected animal. It is recommended to forestrip five squirts of milk from each quarter and check for abnormal milk or flakes.
2. Dirt should be brushed off teats with the use of a dry, single-use towel. Water should not be used as part of any milking procedures, even if a sanitizing solution is added. Sanitizers do not maintain activity throughout a milking, and water can introduce pathogens that are very difficult to cure.
3. A commercially available predip should be applied with a dipper or cup and given 30 seconds of contact time. Sprayers can be used, but proper coverage is difficult to attain, especially on the teats furthest from the milker. Foamers are also commonly used, but caution must be taken to ensure that adequate parts per million of the active ingredient reach the teat end and teat skin.
4. A separate paper or cloth towel should be used to dry teats and scrub teats five times or for 20 seconds. Towels must not be used on more than one cow.
5. Milking units should be attached 90 seconds after first tactile stimulation (stripping or wiping, whichever comes first).
6. Teat ends should be examined for evidence of chapping, cracks, or lesions, which may harbor mastitis-causing bacteria.
7. An effective postmilking teat dip should be applied after milking, ensuring that the entire barrel of each teat is covered. At the end of each milking any teat dip left in the dip cup should be discarded and cups should be rinsed with water and allowed to dry.

Adapted from Staphylococcus aureus Mastitis: Cause, Detection, and Control, Virginia Tech Extension. (C. S. Petersson-Wolfe, Assistant Professor, Dairy Science, Virginia Tech; I. K. Mullarky, Assistant Professor, Dairy Science, Virginia Tech; G. M. Jones, Professor Emeritus, Dairy Science, Virginia Tech.)