Germicidal persistence of teat dips by modified excised teat procedure

An excised teat protocol was modified to evaluate persistence of germicidal activity of teat dips over 8 h. Five teat dip formulations, iodophor (1%), chlorhexidine gluconate (.55%), linear dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid (1.94%), sodium chlorite-lactic acid in a water base, and sodium chlorite-lactic acid in a gel base were tested against Escherichia coli and Klebsiella oxytoca. Iodophor and chlorhexidine had high germicidal activity throughout 8 h, whereas dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid had little activity. Germicidal activity of both sodium chlorite-lactic acid teat dips was high initially but declined with time. The gel base dip, however, remained more germicidal than the water base dip. Results were similar for either organism for most teat dips. However, chlorhexidine was less effective and the gel base dip more effective against Klebsiella oxytoca than Escherichia coli. Standard errors often appeared higher for Klebsiella oxytoca than for Escherichia coli. These assays may prove useful for laboratory screening of teat dips to determine germicidal persistence over time.