Epidemiological incidences of contagious bovine mastitis on small holder dairy farms in Uasin-Gishu county, Kenya

Abstract

Milk and its products are key components of human food chain and in Uasin-Gishu it’s the main source of livelihood. However, widespread and prevalent mastitis infection of dairy cows poses a threat to this source of livelihood. Bovine mastitis is a worldwide infection characterized by an inflammation of the mammary glands and swelling of udder tissues caused by bacteria, fungi and mycoplasma. Bovine mastitis is a public health burden that has immensely contributed to widespread antimicrobial resistance in cows and man, compromised milk quality and quantity thus rendering milk and its products unfit for human consumption. This study aimed at determining incidence of bovine mastitis on small holder farms in Moiben and Kapseret sub-counties of Uasin-Gishu County. This prospective cohort study involved 216 cows recruited on 81 small-holder farms. The cows were pre screened using microbiological culture method and those found free of mastitis infection were recruited. The cows were then monitored for development of mastitis between January and October 2021. Sampling was done every 21 days and on any other day the farmer reported the cow to be sick. Bacterial growth occurred after culturing milk samples and the specific bacterial pathogens isolated and identified. Of the total 216 cows, 104(48.2%) developed mastitis, with the epidemiological distribution of mastitis in the two sub-counties reported as 67(31.0%) in Moiben and 37(17.2%) in Kapseret. Staphylococcal-mastitis was the highest 66(30.6%), followed by Coli-mastitis 11(5.1%), Citrobacter-mastitis 6(2.8%), Micrococcal and Streptococcal-mastitis 5(2.3%) each, while Pneumococcal-mastitis and Pseudomonal-mastitis was # Corresponding author:davidounah1@gmail.com lowest at 2(0.9%) each. These findings suggested a high incidence of contagious-bovine-mastitis, attributable to Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus as the main causative agents. Mitigation of contagious-bovine-mastitis unlike environmental mastitis is reliable to reduce incidence of the disease.