Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “MASTITIS”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 253 records · Page 14Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Diagnostic value of certain mastitis markers in following up the clinical and bacteriological changes in pharmacotherapeutic studies.

Trends of certain mastitis markers were studied in udder quarters (n = 201) showing clinical symptoms of acute mastitis. Besides the clinical examination, before the first treatment (baseline sample), and about 3 weeks later, 17 to 24 days following the last treatment (control sample) milk samples were collected for bacteriological identification of the mastitis pathogens and for the determination of certain inflammatory markers: somatic cell count (SCC), N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAGase) and alpha 1-antitrypsin (ATR) activities, as well as bovine serum albumin (BSA) and chloride (Cl-) concentrations. Based upon the clinical and bacteriological status as well as the SCC recorded at the control investigations, 6 groups were established (recovered, latently infected, subclinical mastitis: bacteriologically positive and negative, as well as clinical mastitis: bacteriologically positive and negative). As compared to the baseline samples, all parameters decreased in the case of recovered udder quarters, as well as in those with abated latent infection or subclinical mastitis at the time of control examination. Comparing the control samples of the different categories, characteristic differences were found in NAGase activity, indicating the grade of cytodamaging effect of mastitis. Of the other markers, ATR and Cl- proved to be more adequate for the differentiation than BSA. It can be concluded that, in addition to SCC, first of all NAGase can be recommended for use as an inflammatory parameter in pharmacodynamic studies. Besides these two parameters, ATR and Cl- can also be chosen as a possible third marker.

Acetylglucosaminidase↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Granulomatous mastitis: gray-scale and color Doppler sonographic findings.

PURPOSE: We examined the roles of gray-scale and color Doppler sonography in the diagnosis of granulomatous mastitis. METHODS: We retrospectively studied the clinical, mammographic, and sonographic findings in 10 women 24-57 years old (mean age, 35.9+/-13.9 years) who had a histopathologic diagnosis of granulomatous mastitis. All patients underwent gray-scale sonographic examination, and 8 patients were further examined with color Doppler imaging. Seven patients had previously undergone mammography. RESULTS: Mammographic findings were nonspecific in all 7 patients. Gray-scale sonographic findings were compatible with mastitis in 6 (60%) of 10 patients. Doppler examination showed increased arterial and venous vascularization within and around the lesion in 5 of 8 patients, but the spectral analysis findings were not specific for granulomatous mastitis. CONCLUSIONS: Neither mammography nor Doppler sonography plays a significant role in the differential diagnosis of granulomatous mastitis versus fibroadenoma or carcinoma. Gray-scale sonography shows findings specific for granulomatous mastitis in some cases, but all cases require histopathologic confirmation for final diagnosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Periductal mastitis and duct ectasia: different conditions with different aetiologies.

A prospective study of 14,225 patients has been undertaken to determine the inter-relationship between periductal mastitis and duct ectasia and to establish whether there is an association between smoking and either of these two conditions. Periductal mastitis affected women at a younger age than did duct ectasia. Of 139 patients with the clinical syndrome of periductal mastitis, 97 (70 per cent) had a past history of previous periductal mastitis, compared with only one (1 per cent) of 186 patients with the clinical syndrome of duct ectasia (P < 0.0001). There was a significant excess of smokers in patients with clinically (124 (89 per cent) of 139) and pathologically (71 (91 per cent) of 78) diagnosed periductal mastitis compared with age-matched controls (both P < 0.001), but there was no such excess in those with clinically (52 (28 per cent) of 186) or pathologically (15 (23 per cent) of 64) diagnosed duct ectasia. These data suggest that periductal mastitis and duct ectasia are separate conditions which affect different age groups, have different aetiologies, and should now be considered as separate entities.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Comparative efficacy of homeopathic and allopathic systems of medicine in the management of clinical mastitis of Indian dairy cows.

Mastitis is the major problem of dairy animals despite a number of preventive and therapeutic approaches. Treatment is costly and out of reach of farmers of developing countries like India. The treatment cost of bovine mastitis with conventional treatment has been calculated. Good results have been claimed with homeopathic treatment however, treatment costs are not available. This article reports the treatment economics of homeopathic drugs conventional drugs for the management of bovine mastitis. Ninety-six mastitic quarters (non-fibrosed 67 and fibrosed 29) were treated with a homeopathic combination medicine. Another 96 quarters with acute mastitis (non-fibrosed) treated with different antibiotics were included in the study. The animals were selected from dairy farm of the Indian Veterinary Research Institute and from private dairy farms. The overall effectiveness of homeopathic combination medicine in the treatment of acute non-fibrosed mastitis was 86.6% with a mean recovery period of 7.7 days (range 3-28), and total cost of therapy as Indian Rupees 21.4 (0.39 Euros, US$ 0.47). The corresponding cure rate for the antibiotic group was 59.2% with a mean recovery period of 4.5 days (range 2-15) and an average treatment cost of Rs.149.20 (2.69 Euros, US$ 3.28). We conclude that the combination of Phytolacca, Calcarea fluorica., Silica, Belladonna, Bryonia, Arnica, Conium and Ipecacuanha (Healwell VT-6) was effective and economical in the management of mastitis in lactating dairy cows.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Staphylococcus aureus lipotechoic acid induces differential expression of bovine serum amyloid A3 (SAA3) by mammary epithelial cells: Implications for early diagnosis of mastitis.

Mastitis is one of the most costly diseases of agriculturally important animals and is a common problem for lactating cows. Current methods used to detect clinical and especially subclinical mastitis are either inadequate or problematic. Pathogens such as the gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus or the gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli typically cause mastitis. E. coli induces clinical mastitis, whereas, S. aureus causes a subclinical, chronic infection of the mammary gland. In this study we report the differential expression and secretion of mammary-derived serum amyloid A3 (SAA3) by bovine mammary epithelial cells following stimulation with the S. aureus cell wall component, lipotechoic acid (LTA). Two-dimensional immunoblot analyses confirmed that bovine SAA3 is the predominant SAA isoform produced by LTA stimulated mammary epithelial cells. Our previous study showed that bovine SAA3 is also differentially expressed in response to the gram-negative bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide. Collectively, these data indicate that the local production of SAA3 by mammary epithelial cells in response to either gram-positive or gram-negative bacterial components may provide a sensitive indicator for early detection and treatment of mastitis in vivo, minimizing chronic cases of infection, the spread of mastitis to other animals, and economic losses.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Udder health and risk factors for subclinical mastitis in organic dairy farms in Switzerland.

1+ were submitted for somatic cell counting (SCC), bacteriological examination and to test for antibiotic susceptibility. The SCC and germ-cell counts of monthly bulk-tank milk samples were available through Dairy Inspection and Advisory Services and milk production data of 567 herd-book cows were available from breeding associations. Possible individual and environmental predictors of subclinical mastitis were identified using logistic models adjusted for clustering of the data at herd and cow levels. Data were analyzed separately for cows from 7 to 100 and from 101 to 305 days post partum. Prevalences of subclinical mastitis at the quarter level were 21.2% for lactation period 7-100 days and 34.5% for 101-305 days post partum. The geometric mean SCC in bulk-tank milk samples was 85.6x10(3)cells/ml. Samples at 7-100 and 101-305 days post partum were positive for Staphylococcus aureus in 16.0 and 7.4%, for coagulase-negative Staphylococci in 51.5 and 50.6%, for Streptococcus agalactiae in 0.0 and 0.8%, for other Streptococci in 19.4 and 15.6%, for E. coli in 1.0 and 0.4%, and for Corynebacterium bovis in 25.7 and 45.1%, respectively. Risks of subclinical mastitis increased significantly with increasing days post partum and advancing age of cow. Cows that were sampled when staying in alpine dairies had considerably higher risks of subclinical mastitis than cows staying in home barns. Significantly lower risks of subclinical mastitis were observed in farms where CMT was performed regularly as a control measure. Bacteria in milk from cows with mastitis exhibited antibiotic resistance at a comparable frequency as found previously in conventional farms.

Animal Husbandry↗
PubMed2000

Relationship between milk somatic-cell counts in the first lactation and clinical mastitis occurrence in the second lactation of French Holstein cows.

The relationship between 10 cell-level descriptors in the first lactation and the risk of clinical mastitis in the second lactation was studied in 10205 Holstein cows from 1254 commercial herds using logistic regression. These 10 cell descriptors were based on the mean cell level over the whole first lactation, on the cell level at the beginning or at the end of the first lactation or on the proportion of cell counts below or above given thresholds. Separate analyses were also performed for subsets of herds defined according to their clinical mastitis incidence risk and their lactation mean somatic-cell count (SCC). Odds of clinical mastitis in second lactation was highest (lowest) for high- (low-) yielding cows. All cell descriptors provided consistent results. Lower (higher) mean cell level, higher (lower) proportion of low SCC values, and lower (higher) proportion of high SCC values in the first lactation were associated with a lower (higher) risk of clinical mastitis in the second lactation. The same trends were observed in all subgroups of herds. Cows with the lowest mean SCC in the first lactation had the lowest risk for clinical mastitis in the second lactation. This suggests that selection for decreased SCC may effectively reduce clinical mastitis incidence and that the breeding goal should favor cows with the lowest observed SCC.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Incidence of clinical mastitis in Danish dairy cattle and screening for non-reporting in a passively collected national surveillance system.

Dairy herds from three counties in Denmark (n=2144) were monitored for a 1-year period to measure the incidence rate (incidence-density) of clinical mastitis. Two different screening methods were evaluated to remove herds from the database for which the herdsman and veterinarian were suspected of under-reporting the mastitis cases which had occurred. One method was based upon agreement between clinical mastitis reports and measures of somatic cell counts of >1 million cells per ml. A second method was based upon agreement between cases reported through the regular disease-reporting system and cases reported on a management questionnaire. Depending upon the method of calculation and screening method used, rates of clinical mastitis varied between 36 and 48 cases per 100 cow-years at risk. The exclusion of herds because of documented non-reporting behavior (screening) resulted in a preponderance of herds with zero or very low incidence of mastitis being removed from the database. Following screening, the frequency distribution of herd mastitis incidence rates became decidedly more symmetrically and normally distributed.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Clinical, bacteriological and epidemiological aspects of clinical mastitis in Israeli dairy herds.

A 4-year retrospective study was performed to determine the clinical, bacteriological and epidemiological aspects of acute clinical mastitis in seven Israeli dairy herds. A total of 1124 clinical mastitis cases were detected by abnormal changes in the milk and udder with concurrent decrease of at least 25% in daily milk production. A total of 1190 quarters were affected with clinical mastitis in 1089 cows. The rear quarters had a higher incidence risk (64.7% of quarter cases) than the front quarters. The annual herd-year-incidence varied from 4.2 to 126.8 cases/100 cows/year. The whole-lactation incidence risk (LIR) was 20.8 per 100 lactations. LIR increased from the first to fifth lactation and then decreased. Most clinical mastitis cases were associated with coliform bacteria (60.2% of cases), environmental streptococci (18.6%), coagulase-negative staphylococci (8.7%) and samples from which no bacterial growth was detected (8.1%). Most cases of clinical mastitis occurred in the early stages of lactation, with 51.4% of all cases, 52.3% of coliform cases and 54.6% of environmental streptococci mastitis cases occurring during the first 4 months of lactation. The median days in milk at diagnosis was 118 days. The incidence was lower in the dry summer months. The ratio of peak to low incidence was 1.62 with a calculated peak incidence in January.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

The economic impact of mastitis-control procedures used in Scottish dairy herds with high bulk-tank somatic-cell counts.

We used multiple-regression analysis of field data to quantify the marginal impacts of various mastitis-control procedures on bulk-tank somatic-cell count (BTSCC). Estimates of milk-yield depression and the probability of herds paying a BTSCC penalty due to the presence of subclinical mastitis were made. An assessment of the economic efficiency of mastitis control by high BTSCC producers was also made using a loss-expenditure frontier. Significant interactions were detected between premilking udder-preparation methods (UP) and post-milking teat disinfection (PMTD), and also between the milking system of the herds and both the use of dry-cow therapy (DCT) and a regular milking-machine test (MMT). Udder preparation involving washing was associated with a higher SCC and had a detrimental effect on the efficacy of PMTD. Amongst herds facing a high-BTSCC problem (BTSCC >400,000 cells/ml), herds using PMTD without UP (regardless of the type of milking system), those using DCT (in parlour systems), and those with a parlour system having their milking machines tested obtained returns of Pound Sterling 1.4, Pound Sterling 3.9 and Pound Sterling 1.1, respectively, per Pound Sterling 1 investment in each of these procedures as a result of reductions in milk-yield losses and BTSCC penalties. The minimum total cost of disease within these herds was Pound Sterling 65.50/cow/year (due to Pound Sterling 41.40 revenue losses plus Pound Sterling 24.10 mastitis-control expenditure) attained by herds which had a parlour system and used DCT, MMT and PMTD (without UP). However, the average cost of subclinical mastitis for all high-BTSCC farms was Pound Sterling 100/cow/yr; hence, the difference (pound Sterling 34.50) could be saved by the more-efficient application of mastitis-control procedures.

Animal Husbandry↗
PubMed2002

Simultaneous intramammary and intranasal inoculation of lactating cows with bovine herpesvirus 4 induce subclinical mastitis.

In this study, we examined whether an experimental bovine herpesvirus 4 (BHV4) infection can induce bovine mastitis, or can enhance bovine mastitis induced by Streptococcus uberis (S. uberis). Four lactating cows were inoculated intramammarily and intranasally with BHV4, and four lactating control cows were mock-inoculated. After 14 days, two of four cows from each group were inoculated intramammarily with S. uberis. No clinical signs were recorded in cows inoculated only with BHV4, and their milk samples showed no abnormal morphology, despite the fact that BHV4 replicated in inoculated quarters. Somatic cell count increased significantly in milk from three of six BHV4-inoculated quarters, compared to the non-inoculated quarters of the same cows (within-cow) and the quarters of mock-inoculated cows (control group) on days 8, 9 and 11 post-inoculation (pi). BHV4 was isolated from nasal swabs between days 2 and 9 pi. Clinical mastitis was observed in all four cows intramammarily inoculated with S. uberis. A preceding BHV4 infection did not exacerbate the clinical mastitis induced by S. uberis. S. uberis infections appeared to trigger BHV4 replication. From one quarter of each of two cows inoculated with BHV4 and S. uberis, BHV4 was isolated, and not from quarters inoculated with BHV4 only. In conclusion, BHV4 did not induce bovine clinical mastitis after simultaneous intranasal and intramammary inoculation. However, the BHV4 infection did induce subclinical mastitis in 50% of the cows and the quarters.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Treatment of clinical mastitis. Using antimicrobial susceptibility profiles for treatment decisions.

Antibiotic susceptibility of clinical mastitis pathogens has traditionally been determined using the agar diffusion method that was designed to reflect the antibiotic concentration in serum and interstitial fluid of human patients after receiving oral or intravenous administration. The validity of applying agar diffusion susceptibility breakpoints derived from humans to the treatment of bovine mastitis has not been established and is extremely questionable because (1) bovine milk pH and electrolyte, fat, protein, and leukocyte concentrations, growth factor composition, and pharmacokinetic profiles are different than those for human plasma and (2) human bacterial pathogens are often different from bovine mastitis pathogens. Also, antibiotics are distributed unevenly in an inflamed gland, and high antibiotic concentrations can alter neutrophil morphology or function in vitro and thereby inhibit bacterial clearance in vivo. The current cost of antibiotic susceptibility testing is $12 to $20 per test. Because the dairy industry is economically driven, any diagnostic test should be validated, have appropriate sensitivity and specificity, and have an acceptable economic return on the cost of testing before it can be routinely recommended. In the authors' opinion, antimicrobial susceptibility testing of mastitis pathogens has not been adequately validated for most mastitis pathogens and antibiotics; therefore, the authors do not currently recommend the use of susceptibility testing to guide treatment decisions for individual cows. Additional research is needed to further define the role, if any, that antimicrobial susceptibility testing should play in the treatment of clinical mastitis.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Immunity and mastitis. Some new ideas for an old disease.

The biggest challenge for host immune defense against mastitis-causing bacteria in dairy cows is to quickly recruit large enough numbers of opsonizing molecules and mature neutrophils into milk such that intramammary pathogens are cleared before they multiply significantly and the inflammatory response gets out of control. Currently, this challenge is best facilitated when established mastitis control procedures are practiced on the farm, including proper hygiene, milking procedures, and regular administration of approved mastitis vaccines. However, mastitis is still a significant problem. New animal functional genomics research is beginning to allow scientists to solve the puzzle of mastitis susceptibility. Results of this type of research offer the hope of giant leaps toward a clear identification of molecular genetic variation and potential gene targets for therapies and immune manipulations that could significantly reduce the risk of clinical mastitis in traditionally susceptible cows.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Bacteriological investigations of clinical mastitis in heifers in Sweden.

Bacterial analyses were carried out of 2069 udder secretions, isolated from 1481 heifers with mastitis in eight veterinary districts in Sweden. Streptococci, e.g. Streptococcus dysgalactiae and Str. uberis, dominated the bacterial flora, being isolated from 34.4 and 19.5% respectively of heifers with clinical mastitis occurring from puberty up to 14 d post partum. Bacterial species generally regarded as important pathogens in the summer mastitis complex, e.g. Actinomyces pyogenes, Stuart-Schwan coccus and strictly anaerobic bacteria such as Peptostreptococcus indolicus, Fusobacterium necrophorum and Bacteroides melaninogenicus were isolated at low frequencies (13.2, 6.3, 9.4, 3.8 and 1.3% respectively). When the cases of mastitis studied were restricted to those appearing in heifers pre partum, May 15 to October 14 (summer mastitis), these bacterial species were isolated at higher percentages (27.1, 14.4, 21.4, 13.5 and 5.2% respectively). These figures were, nevertheless, still lower than those published in reports from other countries. Whether considered up to 14 d post partum or only pre partum, there were no significant differences in the frequencies of A. pyogenes isolated at different seasons. There were geographical differences in bacterial incidence, e.g. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated significantly more often in northern regions whereas Str. dysgalactiae was more common in the south. This and other Swedish investigations support the theory that A. pyogenes and strictly anaerobic bacteria are 'secondary invaders' that depend on Str. dysgalactiae to cause a primary infection. It is stressed that the udders of all heifers should be examined daily so that cases of mastitis can be treated immediately.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Risk factors for dairy cow mastitis in the central highlands of Ethiopia.

This study, with the objective of assessing the effect of risk factors on dairy cow mastitis in the central highlands of Ethiopia, was undertaken between February and September 2001 in the urban and peri-urban areas of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A prevalence study and questionnaire survey were carried out simultaneously. Clinical examination of lactating udders and California mastitis test (CMT) determined clinical and subclinical mastitis, respectively. Risk factors for subclinical and clinical mastitis were identified from data on animals and farm management by chi-square analysis and subsequent logistic regression. Cows aged at least 8 years, with poor body condition, with at least 8 parities and in at least the eighth month of lactation had a significantly higher risk for subclinical mastitis (p < 0.05). The risk was reduced for cows up to their third parity in good body condition and for cows receiving dry cow therapy. Cows aged at least 4 years, or with at least 8 parities, cows in at least the fourth month of lactation, cows with poor body condition, leaking milk or previous udder infections had a significantly higher risk of clinical mastitis (p <0.05). The risk was reduced by the use of separate towels for udder cleaning and by drying off at the end of lactation. Most of the risk factors were in agreement with previous reports. However, stage of lactation and drying-off style were in contrast to others. Further research is needed to identify the interrelationship between production level, specific pathogens and management risk factors.

Animal Husbandry↗
PubMedDate not supplied

An individual modelling tool for consecutive clinical mastitis during the same lactation in dairy cows: a method based on a survival model.

The high number of clinical mastitis recurring within the same lactation in dairy cows constitutes one of the factors of overdispersion in standard Poisson models. Our method, based on biological parameters, i.e., recurrence hazard in relation to udder exogenous infection (Rex) or recurrence hazard and rate in relation to endogenous infection (Ren), produced a model capable of integrating a possible change of state in the udder after clinical mastitis. This model was based on a study of the time intervals between successive clinical episodes, both types of risk being considered in the form of a distribution mixture in the survival model. The modelling tool allowed to determine the factors that specifically act on either one of the potential risks and estimated the distribution of the number of clinical mastitis per lactation, as well as the distribution of when mastitis occurs. Estimation results obtained by this method in an experimental herd were compared with those from more classical models with or without random individual effects. The distribution of the number of mastitis per lactation estimated by our method was well-fitted to the data and the method identified variation factors which were relatively standard in this type of study: lactation number, lactation stage and calving month. Prediction results obtained in another experimental herd with more recent data without parameter re-estimation demonstrated the adequacy of the model in fitting observed data. This modelling method based on biological parameters in a mixture of survival distributions was interesting to model clinical mastitis recurring within the same lactation. However in the future it will also be important to integrate the possible relationship between successive lactations and to apply this model to other types of farming systems.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

High milk neutrophil chemiluminescence limits the severity of bovine coliform mastitis.

Polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) function changes during mastitis. To investigate the contribution of milk PMN to the severity of Escherichia coli (E. coli) mastitis, chemiluminescence (CL) of blood and milk PMN and their efficiency to destroy coliform bacteria in the mammary gland were examined following the induction of E. coli mastitis in early lactating cows. To better assess and define the degree of mastitis severity, cows were classified as moderate and severe responders according to milk production loss in the non-infected quarters at post-infection hour (PIH) 48. There was an inverse relationship between pre-infection milk PMN CL and colony-forming units at PIH 6. In moderate cows, the pre-infection blood and milk PMN CL was approximately 2-fold higher than that of severe cows. The probability of severe response increased with decreasing pre-infection PMN CL. At the beginning of the infection blood and milk PMN CL was consistently higher, and milk PMN CL increased faster after infection in moderate cows. At PIH > 48 milk PMN CL in severe cows exceeded that of moderate cows. The somatic cell count (SCC) in moderate cows increased faster than colony-forming units, whereas in severe cows the results were reversed. The kinetics of CL activity for blood and milk PMN before and during the early phase of infection confirmed an impairment in PMN CL activity for severe responding cows. High pre-infection blood and milk PMN CL and the immediate increase of milk PMN CL and SCC after infection limited bacterial growth thereby facilitating the recovery of E. coli mastitis in moderate cows. Our study strengthens the idea that pre-existing milk PMN (a static part of the udder's immune defense) functions as a "cellular antibiotic" before and during infection, and low milk PMN CL is a risk factor for bovine coliform mastitis.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Haptoglobin and serum amyloid A in milk from dairy cows with chronic sub-clinical mastitis.

New tools are needed to detect chronic sub-clinical mastitis, especially in automatic milking systems. Haptoglobin and serum amyloid A (SAA) are the two most sensitive bovine acute phase proteins, and their concentrations increase in milk from cows with clinical mastitis and in milk from cows with experimentally induced chronic sub-clinical Staphylococcus aureus mastitis. The aim of this study was to further evaluate the potential for haptoglobin and SAA in milk as indicators of chronic sub-clinical mastitis. Quarter milk samples were collected from 41 cows with a mean composite milk somatic cell count (CSCC) above 300,000 cells/mL during at least two months prior to sampling. Quarter milk samples were also taken from eleven cows with a mean CSCC below 80,000 cells/mL during at least two previous months. These samples were analysed for haptoglobin, SAA, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) activity and bacterial growth. The samples were grouped according to their ATP, haptoglobin and SAA status. ATP+ samples had ATP > 2 x 10(-10) mol/mL, Hp+ and SAA+ samples had detectable levels of haptoglobin (> or = 0.3 mg/L) and SAA (> or = 0.9 mg/L), respectively. In udder quarter samples from healthy cows, 42 out of 44 samples belonged to the ATP-Hp-SAA- group. Among cows with chronic sub-clinical mastitis, the ATP+Hp+SAA+ group contained 66 out of 164 samples while 44 samples belonged to the ATP+Hp-SAA- group. Detectable levels of haptoglobin and SAA were found in 92 and 80 samples, respectively. Growth of udder pathogens was detected in 28 samples and Staphylococcus aureus was the most common bacteria. In conclusion, haptoglobin and SAA concentrations below the detection limit were considered as good indicators of healthy udder quarters. A substantial variation in haptoglobin and SAA concentrations in milk was observed in udder quarters with chronic sub-clinical mastitis.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗