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Short Communication: Comparison of Bulk Milk, Yield-Corrected, and Average Somatic Cell Counts as Parameters to Summarize the Subclinical Mastitis Situation in a Dairy Herd

J. J. Lievaart^*,1,2, W. D. J. Kremer^* and H. W. Barkema

^* Department of Farm Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Department of Production Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

¹ Corresponding author: jlievaart{at}csu.edu.au

In this study, the correlation was determined between the prevalence of high cow-level somatic cell count (SCC >250,000 cells/mL), a summary of the subclinical mastitis situation in a dairy herd, and 3 average herd SCC parameters: bulk milk SCC (BMSCC), yield-corrected test-day SCC (CHSCC), and the arithmetic average test-day SCC (HSCC) of the lactating herd. The herd prevalence of cows with an SCC of >250,000 cells/mL was calculated by using Dairy Herd Improvement data. Herds were included if BMSCC was sampled within 2 d of the Dairy Herd Improvement test day and if the BMSCC did not exceed 400,000 cells/mL. The interval between sampling, 0, 1, or 2 d, did not significantly influence the correlation between BMSCC and the prevalence of high SCC. The correlations between the prevalence of high SCC and BMSCC, yield-corrected test-day SCC, and HSCC, examined by using a linear regression model, were 0.64, 0.78, and 0.89, respectively. Therefore, it can be concluded that, based on the highest correlation, HSCC is a more appropriate parameter than BMSCC to summarize the average herd subclinical mastitis situation in a dairy herd.

Key Words: udder health • correlation • herd somatic cell count • bulk milk somatic cell count

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				J. J. Lievaart, H. W. Barkema, W. D. J. Kremer, J. van den Broek, J. H. M. Verheijden, and J. A. P. Heesterbeek Effect of Herd Characteristics, Management Practices, and Season on Different Categories of the Herd Somatic Cell Count J Dairy Sci, September 1, 2007; 90(9): 4137 - 4144. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]