Principles of Mastitis Treatment in Sheep and Goats

Mastitis is the term for inflammation of the mammary gland, which may be caused by various microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi, as well as injury. This article is limited to treatment of bacterial mastitis. The disease is characterized by presence of bacteria and increased leukocyte counts in mammary secretion and by pathologic changes in the mammary tissue. Staphylococcus aureus and Mannheimia haemolyticaaretwofrequentcausativeagentsofclinicalmastitis.Saureusisresponsible for approximately 40% of cases of clinical mastitis in ewes suckling lambs and approximately 80% of cases in dairy ewes; the organism is the most common cause of clinical mastitis in dairy goats. Mh aemolyticais responsible for approximately 40% of cases of clinicalmastitisinewessucklinglambs.Otherbacterialagentscausingclinicalmastitisin lactating ewes and does are coagulase-negative Staphylococci (which, moreover, are the most frequent causal agents of subclinical mastitis), Escherichia coli ,a ndStreptococci.Severalspeciesofmycoplasmacancausemastitisinsheepandgoats,specifically Mycoplasmaagalactiae, the cause ofcontagiousagalactia syndrome(sheepand goats); Mycoplasma mycoides subsp mycoides large-colony type (goats); and Mycoplasma putrefaciens(goats).Indryewes/does,theprimarycausalagentsofmammaryabnormal