Bacteria associated with clinical mastitis in dairy heifers

A 1-yr field investigation of clinical mastitis in heifers was carried out in 24 veterinary districts in Norway. Quarter lacteal secretions from cases that occurred prepartum or within 14 d postpartum were examined bacteriologically. The study included 1040 heifers with clinical mastitis, and the total number of quarters that were clinically affected was 1361. The organisms that were most frequently isolated from samples from these quarters were Staphylococcus aureus (44.3%), Streptococcus dysgalactiae (18.2%), Staph. aureus together with Strep. dysgalactiae (1.2%), coagulase-negative staphylococci (12.8%), Arcanobacterium pyogenes (3.5%), A. pyogenes together with Strep. dysgalactiae (0.5%) or Staph. aureus (0.4%), and Escherichia coli (6.4%). Of the coagulase-negative staphylococci, Staphylococcus simulans (53.7%), Staphylococcus hyicus (14.8%), and Staphylococcus chromogenes (14.8%) were the most prevalent species. Except for a higher relative percentage of A. pyogenes in cases that occurred before parturition (8.2%) than in cases that occurred after parturition (2.7%), no significant differences were observed in the distribution of the various organisms among prepartum and postpartum cases. Regional variations were observed in the distribution of organisms. The proportions of Staph. aureus and A. pyogenes were highest, and the proportion of coagulase-negative staphylococci was lowest, in late autumn and early winter. The proportion of E. coli was highest in summer. In heifers in which mastitis was associated with increased rectal temperature or other systemic signs, the proportion of clinically affected quarters that were infected with Staph. aureus was larger than that in heifers without systemic reaction.