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Biomedical subjects

J Eric Hillerton

Publications and source records attributed to J Eric Hillerton.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Decision tree analysis to evaluate dry cow strategies under UK conditions.

Economic decisions on animal health strategies address the cost-benefit aspect along with animal welfare and public health concerns. Decision tree analysis at an individual cow level highlighted that there is little economic difference between the use of either dry cow antibiotic or an internal teat sealant in preventing a new intramammary infection in a cow free of infection in all quarters of the mammary gland at drying off. However, a potential net loss of over ł20 per cow might occur if the uninfected cow was left untreated. The only economically viable option, for a cow with one or more quarters infected at drying off, is antibiotic treatment, although a loss might still be incurred depending on the pathogen concerned and the cure rates achievable. There was a net loss for cows with quarters infected with Corynebacterium spp. at drying off, for both the teat sealant and untreated groups (ł22 and ł48, respectively) with only antibiotic-treated cows showing a gain.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

The management and treatment of environmental streptococcal mastitis.

Environmental streptococci are responsible for at least one third of all cases of clinical mastitis, with the proportion varying widely between herds. Each dairy farmer should know the etiology of mastitis in the herd to allow for appropriate management. Control requires lowering the prevalence of infection, and includes shortening the duration of and preventing new infections. Prompt and aggressive treatment of clinical cases may achieve a high clinical and bactriologic rate of cure. Dry-cow treatment remains highly effective in eliminating infection. Prophylactic dry-cow treatment remains of substantial benefit in preventing new intramammary infections and clinical mastitis. An internal teat sealant has shown a comparable effect in uninfected cows in field studies. Management of exposure to environmental streptococci is essential and requires assessment of the risk of exposure (especially in bedding and other lying areas), reduction of teat-end contamination, and good hygienic milking practices. The key is in the quality of application of management.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Possible labile inhibition of the growth of Streptococcus uberis in milk from cows free from mastitis.

Milk from dairy cows never known to have had an intramammary infection with Streptococcus uberis can inhibit growth of Str. uberis for up to 7 h. This inhibition is abolished if milk is heated to 80 degrees C. Inhibition appears not to be related to immune defences as it occurs in skimmed milk (cell free), is unrelated to the concentration of immunoglobulin and survives heating to 56 degrees C. The effect is partly overcome by addition of selected amino acids and vitamins. It is suggested that the inhibition is caused by a restriction in the supply of essential nutrients part of which may require the conversion of plasminogen to plasmin.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Effective treatment of Streptococcus uberis clinical mastitis to minimize the use of antibiotics.

Antibiotic regimens (intramammary antibiotic, penicillin-based parenteral treatment) and intramuscular oxytocin were tested for effectiveness against experimental infection by Streptococcus uberis with the following results from 54 animals: a) no treatment led to deterioration of infected quarters, requiring intervention within 48 h for cow health; b) aggressive intramammary antibiotic at every milking achieved 70% clinical cure in 3 d and 100% cure within 6 d; overall bacteriological cure was 80%; c) parenteral treatment alone used about 14 times as much antibiotic with 18% clinical cure in 3 d and 91% within 6 d; overall bacteriological cure was 80%; d) combination of aggressive intramammary and parenteral treatments achieved 61% clinical cure in 3 d and 100% within 6 d; overall bacteriological cure was 72%; e) intramammary antibiotic at labeled rates (1x for 3 d) achieved 27% clinical cure in 3 d but 91% within 6 d of treatment; overall bacteriological cure was 64%; f) use of oxytocin alone for 3 d failed to achieve clinical improvement with an increase in the severity of mastitis; g) combining oxytocin with labeled use of intramammary antibiotic (1x for 3 d) was unsuccessful: 0% clinical cures in 3 d, 10% in 6 d; significantly poorer than intramammary antibiotic alone. Extended treatment periods with parenteral or intramammary antibiotics resulted in positive inhibitory tests for milk from individual quarters up to 8 d after treatment. Aggressive intramammary antibiotic was the most effective treatment for fastest cure clinically and bacteriologically using least antibiotic.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Utility of automated real-time RT-PCR for the detection of foot-and-mouth disease virus excreted in milk.

Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) can be excreted in milk and thereby spread infection to susceptible animals in other holdings. The feasibility of using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) as a diagnostic tool for detection of FMDV in milk was assessed by studying the excretion of virus from experimentally-infected cattle. Fore- and machine milk samples were collected over a 4-week period from two dairy cows infected with FMDV and from two in-contact cows held in the same pen. The whole, skim, cream and cellular debris components of the milks were tested by automated rRT-PCR and results compared to virus isolation (VI) in cell culture. The onset of clinical signs of FMD in all four cows correlated with viraemia, and the presence of FMDV in other clinical samples. rRT-PCR results matched closely with VI in detecting FMDV in all milk components and generally coincided with, but did not consistently precede, the onset of clinical signs. rRT-PCR detected FMDV in milk up to 23 days post inoculation which was longer than VI. Furthermore, the detection limit of FMDV in milk was greater by rRT-PCR than VI and, in contrast to VI, rRT-PCR detected virus genome following heat treatment that simulated pasteurisation. rRT-PCR was also able to detect FMDV in preservative-treated milk. In conclusion, this study showed that automated rRT-PCR is quicker and more sensitive than VI and can be used to detect FMDV in whole milk as well as milk fractions from infected animals.

Animals↗