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Simplified Procedure for Determining Sensitivities of Mastitis Causing Organisms to Antibacterial Agents¹

Department of Plant Pathology, Bacteriology, and Entomology West Virginia University, Morgantown

ABSTRACT

The practicability of employing mastitic milk directly for determination of antibacterial sensitivities has been demonstrated. It was shown that when the antibiotic to be tested was added to the milk in conjunction with litmus as an indicator, results obtained following incubation were comparable to those obtained by the disc plate assay method using the isolated organisms. The proposed method has been shown to be feasible, in that it correlated well with the standard plate method, and recent reports (2, 3) have pointed out certain other advantages in the use of milk in sensitivity testing.

Results of the seven antibiotics tested, as shown by the tube method, indicate that chloromycetin was the most effective agent against mastitie organisms. Triple sulfa, erythromycin, penicillin, and neomycin were the most effective, in that order. Dihydrostreptomycin and colymycin were the least effective. These two agents are mainly effective against Gram-negative organisms and, since none were found, effectiveness of these agents is expected to be low.

On the basis of this work, it appears that it is feasible to perform antibacterial sensitivities directly in mastitic milk. The method would have particular application to veterinarians and in laboratories with limited facilities, in that no special equipment is required. The method has been shown to be simple, inexpensive, and accurate.

¹ Published with the approval of the Director of the West Virginia University Agricultural Experiment Station as Scientific Paper no. 867.