Bovine Mastitis in Ethiopia

Ethiopia is located in tropical region and livestock production represents a major national resource and forms an integral part of the Agricultural production system and livelihood of the society. Dairy farming being one of the agricultural production in Ethiopia, is practiced mainly as an extensive type of management system, which involves smallholder farmers in rural areas and semi-intensive and intensive managements in per urban and urban areas. Despite a large number of milking cows, there is low milk production because of many factors, including low genetic potential of indigenous breeds, extensive and poor husbandry practices, and widespread livestock diseases. Among the dairy cows’ diseases, mastitis is prevalent in the dairy production system incurring high economic losses and social burden. Several reports on mastitis in Ethiopia are present but are scattered. We focused on reviewing articles published in indexed journals reporting bovine mastitis to summarize its common etiologies, prevalence, and risk factors in Ethiopia. The common pathogens reported from different parts of Ethiopia are Staphylococcus aureus (Staph. aureus), non-aureus staphylococci, Streptococcus spp. (Strep. agalactiae, Strep. dysgalactiae, Strep. uberis), coliforms (E. coli, Klebsiella pneumonae), Trueperella pyogenes and Mannheimia haemolytica (M. haemolytica), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeroginosa), Enterobater aerogenes, Bacillus species, Micrococcus species. Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli are the most common isolates from clinical mastitis (CM). Staphylococcus aureus is also the most frequently isolated pathogen from sub-clinical mastitis (SCM). Sub-clinical mastitis which usually ranges from 25.4% to 73.3%, is highly prevalent than the clinical cases of mastitis which ranges from 3.2% to 26.5%. Several mastitis risk factors were reported. These were breed of animals, parity number, stage of lactation, presence of teat/udder lesion and hygiene measure of the farms. Thus, it is essential to plan and implement control measures including maintenance of good dairy farm environment, udder and milking hygiene at farm level; regular monitoring of udder health with special attention to exotic, crossbred and lactating cows and culling of older cows. Isolation, characterization and conducting antibacterial sensitivity test should be integral part of mastitis control strategy for effective control of the mastitis causing pathogens.