Title: Mastitis Causing Pathogens within the Dairy Cattle Environment
Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between bacterial numbers found within the bedding materialand those found upon the teats in cattle herds bedded on three different bedding materials; sand, sawdust and straw. Thebacteria to be studied are known to be responsible for the development of mastitis within the mammary glands resultingin reduced milk quality and poor welfare conditions for the animal. Samples for the analysis were collected undernatural housing conditions from the bedding and from the teats of a representative sample of each herd. These were thenplated to isolate numbers of the environmental bacteria, Streptococcus uberis and Escherichia coli (E. coli), and toconduct a total viable count for comparison. Statistical analysis showed that six of the nine relationships tested resultedin a P