Clinical and Subclinical Bovine Mastitis and Associated Risk factors in Small-scale Dairy Farms in Bahir Dar and its envirion, Amhara region

Abstract Background Cross-sectional study was conducted from June 2017 to January 2018 with the objective of determining the prevalence of mastitis and identify the associated risk factors in and around Bahir dar dairy farms. Totally 302 lactating cows were selected using simple random sampling method. Initially, mastitis cases were diagnosed based on California Mastitis Test (MCT) results and the nature of gel formation. Then positive samples were subjected to bacterial culture and isolation using blood agar, MacConkey agar, colony morphology, Gram stain, and biochemical tests. Statistical analysis was carried out using STATA software and association of mastitis with risk factors was analyzed using chi square test. The association was considered as significant when p-value was less than 0.05. Result The overall cow level prevalence of mastitis using CMT was 25.16% (76/302) with clinical and sub clinical mastitis of 3.64% and 21.52%, respectively. Similarly, the quarter level mastitis was 10.43% (126/1208) with clinical and sub clinical cases of 1.49% and 8.94%, respectively. Bacteria identified were Staphylococci Spp, Escherichia coli, Bacillus Spp, and Streptococcus Spp. with a proportion of 66.07% .94%, 8.0% and 7.14%, respectively. Body condition score, cow Hygiene, Parity, history of mastitis, stage of lactation, teat lesion, use of same clothing, lactating mastitis positive animal last were found to be significant risk factors. Conclusion The current study revealed moderate prevalence of mastitis warranting application of appropriate hygienic practices during milking and awareness creation to the dairy farmers.