Efficacy of inactivated Parapoxvirus ovis paraimmune activator as a prophylaxis against mastitis and therapy for subclinical mastitis in dairy cattle

Mastitis is the most important disease in dairy cattle industry because of its high economic losses both in herd management, milk and milk products. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of inactivated Parapoxvirus ovis (IPPVO) paraimmune activator as a prophylaxis against mastitis and as the therapy for subclinical mastitis in dairy cattle. The prophylactic effects of IPPVO were investigated in California mastitis test (CMT) (-) Holstein cows which were divided into A1 (n=30) and A2 (control, n=30) subgroups. In addition, 90 subclinical mastitis Holstein cows were divided into subgroups of B1, B2, and B3 to investigate the efficacy of IPPVO treatment. A significant difference in CMT levels was observed (p ˂ 0.01) 30 d after treatment in A groups. The difference in somatic cell count (SCC) levels between the A groups 15, 30 d after treatment was significant (p ˂ 0.01). The results of the CMT among the B groups showed no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05). The results of the SCC tests showed no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) among the B groups at day 0, 9 and 15 after treatment. Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (n = 53) and Escherichia coli (n = 30) were the most prevalent bacteria isolated in this study. In conclusion, IPPVO, although has no additional effect when used in combination with antibiotics; it could possibly be used instead of antibiotics and to protect cattle from subclinical mastitis, however, it is not known how long this prophylaxis effect can last.