[Implementation of mastitis prevention and control programmes on Flemish dairy farms]

Mastitis prevention and control programmes were developed in the 1960s and have since been adopted with considerable success. Our data for a convenience sample of 45 Flemish dairy farms demonstrate that the well-known "five-point prevention and control programme" is still not, or not adequately, implemented. For example, only 18% of the dairy farmers prestripped their cows and wiped the teats using single-use dry towels before attaching the milking units. Although about 70% of the farms practised post-milking teat disinfection (dipping or spraying), 40% of the farmers did this inadequately. On only one farm were cows with clinical mastitis treated both locally and parenterally for at least 3 days, and on only 7% of the dairy farms was the udder health status of the herd systematically monitored. According to the dairy farmers, the extra labour and stress caused by udder health problems were the most troublesome aspects of mastitis. On the basis of this study, it can be concluded that bovine practitioners in the Flemish region should critically evaluate the mastitis management of their clients (farmers) and motivate them to implement an efficient mastitis prevention programme.