Prevalence of bovine subclinical mastitis in Malawi

A survey comprising 934 cows of a total of 1180 from 22 dairy herds and the examination of bulk milk samples from 273 small-holders was carried out. At the time of sampling all known dairy herds and small-holders in Malawi were examined. Since relative few infections other than Staph. aureus and Str. agalactiae were revealed in the first 12 herds where quartermilk samples were taken composite milk samples (all four quarters into one sample) were taken in the remainder of the herds. The results of the survey are shown in Tables I a, b, c and II a and b. The major problems were infections caused by Str. agalactiae and Staph. aureus. The amount of pathological secretion was low compared to countries with a developed dairy industry such as Denmark.