The study objective was to evaluate the efficacy of Ceftiofur hydrochloride intramammary (IMM) formulation (Spectramast LC, Zoetis India) with or without parenteral Cefoperazone/Sulbactum antibiotic on bacteriological cure, clinical cure and pathogen cure in lactation clinical mastitis (CM) when compared with control group treated with Amoxicillin-Sulbactum. The study was conducted from September 2015 through December 2017 on lactating buffaloes suffering from clinical mastitis (n=307) (Treatment group, T1 = 156 and Control group, T2 = 151) mostly at farmer's doorstep and also the participation of organized buffalo herds located at Hisar (n=2), Sirsa (n=1) from Haryana and at Nabha (n=1) from Punjab after follow up 1 and 2 at day 10 and 21 respectively. Infected quarters in Grade I and II lactation CM Treatment group (T1) were treated from day 0 to day 4 i.e. for 5 consecutive days with Ceftiofur hydrochloride IMM formulation or in Grade III lactation CM, IMM Ceftiofur hydrochloride along with parenteral Cefoperazone/Sulbactum. Control group (T2) received treatment from day 0 to day 2 i.e. for 3 consecutive days with Amoxicillin-Sulbactum antibiotic. Of 307 buffaloes infected with CM at day 0 pre-treatment, 93.49 percent of milk samples came culture positive whereas 52.12 percent (n=160/307) and 29.64 percent (91/307) of culture positive milk samples were there at day 10 and day 21 post-treatment respectively. Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus was the most prevalent causative agent followed by other gram positive, mixed infection, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus spp., other coliform, Pseudomonas, other gram negative and Enterococcus spp. While apparent bacteriological cure rate of IMI was 50.37 percent (at animal level) at day 10 post-treatment in the Treatment group receiving Spectramast LC, it was 77.78 percent at day 21 post-treatment in the same group. The bacteriological cure rate of 45.45 percent and 57.58 percent were observed at day 10 and day 21 post-treatment in Control group respectively. Buffaloes receiving Spectramast LC (Treatment group) were 1.12 times (at day 10) and 1.35 times (at day 21) more likely to cure than Control group. Treatment group showed numerically higher clinical and pathogen cure than control group.

The conventional drugs used for the treatment of buffalo mastitis are losing their efficacy day by day due to increasing resistance in microbial organisms. It is therefore people nowadays are going back to use old but still quite potential remedy methods by using different herbs and shrubs for the treatment of different animal diseases including mastitis. In current investigation, three botanical extracts viz., garlic (Allium sativum L.), ginger (Zingiber officinale) and red chilies (Capsicum annuum L.) were evaluated individually and concomitantly (with ratio of 1:1) against the multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes isolated from buffalo mastitis. Agar well diffusion assay exhibited that red chili shown significantly (P LT 0.05) higher effects than garlic followed by ginger. All concentrations of red chili and 100 percent concentration of garlic exhibited a significantly (P LT 0.05) higher inhibitory effect against Strep. pyogenes comparing with other extracts and reference antibiotic oxacillin and streptomycin. Red chili as well as garlic in 75 and 100 percent concentrations also significantly (P LT 0.05) inhibited the Staph. aureus isolates comparing with ginger and reference drug. Red chili exhibited the highest inhibitory effects when combined with garlic than ginger. Garlic + red chilies showed a significantly (P LT 0.05) higher inhibitory effect against Staph. aureus and Strep. pyogenes as compared to other combined treatments and reference drug. Red chili as well as garlic also showed significantly (P LT 0.05) lower MIC (0.394 and 0.399 mg/ml respectively) against multidrug resistant Strep. pyogenes as compared to the ginger (0.564 mg/ml) and reference antibiotic oxacillin (0.460 mg/ml). Red chilies also showed significantly (P LT 0.05) lower (0.211 mg/ml) MIC against multidrug resistant Staph. aureus as compared to the garlic (0.391 mg/ml), ginger (0.394 mg/ml) and reference antibiotic tetracycline (0.370 mg/ml). Treatment combination based on red chili, garlic and ginger also exhibited significantly (P LT 0.05) lower MIC value against Staph. aureus and Strep. pyogenes as compared to ginger + garlic and reference antibiotic. This study concludes that red chili ranked 1st, garlic ranked 2nd and ginger ranked 3rd for antibacterial activity against multidrug resistant Staph. aureus and Strep. pyogenes. Treatment combination based on garlic + red chili ranked 1st, ginger + red chilies ranked 2nd and ginger + garlic ranked 3rd for antibacterial activity against multidrug resistant bacteria isolates.

The present study was conducted to investigate the normal somatic cell count (SCC), associated factors in hygienic management and to define subclinical mastitis in buffaloes in Puducherry. Samples were collected from 50 clinically normal buffaloes stationed at different farms of Puducherry region. Somatic cell count was measured for all the milk samples using Newman-Lampert staining technique. The upper limit of SCC was determined as GT= 2, 00,000/ml of milk based on the mean +- 2SD of a total SCC. California mastitis test (CMT) was conducted for all the animals. In the present study subclinical mastitis was diagnosed on the basis of samples with SCCs GT= 2, 00,000/ml. In the present study 96 percent of the milk samples were negative for California mastitis test (CMT). The SCC of CMT positive quarter was significantly higher (P LT 0.01) than CMT negative quarters. Subclinical mastitis was found only in three buffaloes in the present study. Somatic cell counts were significantly higher in the buffaloes with subclinical mastitis. Regarding the hygiene, all the farms had poor management and improper housing. Proper education on hygienic management is need of the hour for buffalo owners of Puducherry region.

Mannose Binding Lectins (MBL) gene possibly contributes to bacterial infection resistance and was proposed as a molecular marker for milk production traits to control mastitis A total of 60 Murrah buffaloes were selected to characterize exon 2 of MBL1 gene to identify polymorphism and its association with mastitis. A 401 bp PCR fragment of MBL1 gene targeting g.2686T GT C was amplified and digested with HaeIII restriction enzyme. Genotype analysis using PCR-RFLP revealed a monomorphic CC banding pattern. Sequencing was also carried out to explore other SNPs. The result indicates highly conserved DNA sequence in Murrah buffalo. This study provides preliminary information that the targeted region of MBL1 gene in water buffalo has no significant association with mastitis resistance which maybe a breed specific characteristic. Since present study has formulated the results based on a relatively small sample, further studies are required to validate these results in large samples.

This study aimed to determine the lactoferrin concentration from healthy and subclinical mastitic buffaloes. Lactoferrin levels were determined in a total of 475 mammary quarter milk samples, 391 of which were healthy and 84 suffering from subclinical mastitis. The mean milk lactoferrin level in logarithmic form for healthy and subclinical mastitic milk samples was 1.34+-0.27 and 1.85+-0.47, respectively. A significant difference (p LT 0.001) was determined between the two groups in terms of the lactoferrin levels. The milk lactoferrin levels in healthy buffaloes were significantly higher in the middle and late periods of lactation than the peak period (p LT 0.05). The mean milk lactoferrin levels in subclinical mastitic buffaloes infected with S. aureus or S. agalactiae were significantly higher than those from in buffaloes infected with Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci (CNS) or Candida spp. (p LT 0.05). An increase in milk lactoferrin levels was observed in parallel with the increase in somatic cell scores. In conclusion, milk lactoferrin levels in buffaloes were found to increase with the lactation stage, the presence of bacterial infection and the somatic cell count. This is the first study to determine the relationship between lactoferrin concentrations and bacterial infection in milk obtained from mammary quarters with subclinical mastitis in Anatolian buffaloes.

Present investigation was carried out on randomly selected 120 she buffaloes in dairy farms and local farmers of different places, villages of Surajpur, with the objective to study the prevalence of subclinical mastitis in she buffaloes at adjoining areas of Surajpur. The prevalence of the subclinical mastitis was studied by screening of she buffaloes correlated with age, breed, stage of lactation and quarter wise distribution. The overall prevalence rate was 68.33 percent. The rate of prevalence of SCM was the highest between the age group of 9 and 11 years (90.32 percent). Breed wise prevalence of SCM was found maximum in crossbred (72.30 percent) followed by indigenous (65.62 percent) and nondescript (47.23 percent) breed. The prevalence of SCM was found to be the highest in mid lactation (76.47 percent) followed by early (67.27 percent) and late (61.29 percent) lactation. Quarter wise study revealed that the left hind quarters (30.83 percent) were found to be the most prone for sub clinical infection followed by right fore (19.16 percent), left fore (10 percent) and the least affected was right hind quarter (8.33 percent).

This study was conducted to assess the therapeutic efficiency of antioxidant in subclinical mastitis. Therapeutic trials were conducted in twelve buffaloes affected with subclinical mastitis and were randomly divided into two groups. The buffaloes of Group 1 were treated with intramuscular injection of Inj. Mofoi 5 mg/kg body weight, while Group 2 buffaloes were treated with intramuscular administration of Inj. Mofoi 5 mg/kg body weight along with antioxidant powder orally. The therapeutic efficacy was assessed based on bacteriological cure and the pre and post therapeutic values of somatic cell count, electrical resistance, pH and milk yield. The use of antioxidant along with Moxifloxacin was found to be superior than antibiotic alone by improving udder's natural defence mechanism, early restoration of milk yield and quick recovery.

The present study was conducted in buffaloes to determine the occurrence of subclinical mastitis and its diagnosis in relation to milk SCC and biochemical composition. The results showed that taking quarter foremilk (QFM) somatic cell count (SCC) threshold limit of LT 200*10**(3) cell for defining healthy quarters, 16.48 percent of buffaloes and 5.79 percent of quarters were positive for specific subclinical mastitis. In total, 57/363 (15.70 percent)of quarters were bacteriological positive with 21 (5.79 percent) representing specific and 36 (9.92 percent) latent infections. The major pathogen isolated were 28 (49 percent) coagulase-negative staphylococci followed by 16 (28 percent) S. aureus, 09 (16 percent) Streptococcus and 4(7 percent) Corynebacterium spp. The average QFM SCC was found as 52.50*10**(3) cells /ml for the quarter with no bacteria, and 356.51*10**(3) cell /ml for the quarters infected with one or the other bacteria (p LT 0.05). The milk electrical conductivity (EC), Fat and Lactoseshowed significant alterations with the quarter infection, the EC and Fat increased while Lactose decreased in infected quarters (p LT 0.05). The California mastitis test CMT) at cut off score of GT 0.5 for diseased quarters showed 68.75 percent sensitivity with 99.09 percent specificity. The EC with 87.50 percent sensitivity and 74.02 percent specificity and Lactose with 84.37 percent sensitivity and 66.16 percent specificity also showed significant (p LT 0.01) discrimination ability to differentiate healthy and mastitis quarters in buffaloes. The milk pH was not found to be a good parameter to identify diseased quarters.

The present study was designed to correlate the milk pH, somatic cell count (SCC), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities in buffalo milk with the udder health status. A total of 60 (Sixty) buffaloes were randomly selected irrespective of their age, breed, feeding practice, stage and season of lactation from the herd belonging to Purnadhadi buffalo unit, PGIVAS, Teaching Veterinary Clinical complex, PGIVAS, Veterinary Polyclinic, Akola and also buffaloes of farmers in and around Akola. After thorough clinical examination of each udder, about 30 ml of milk was collected in sterilized, clean, dry plastic bottles and after careful screening by CMT, categorized in normal, sub- clinical (1+), sub- clinical (2+), sub- clinical (3+) and clinical group containing 12 animals in each group. The pH was measured using a digital pH meter (E.I. Model 101E) and SCC was calculated in freshly collected milk. LDH and ALP activities were measured by spectrophotometric method. The milk pH, SCC, LDH and ALP activities were found proportional to the severity of the udder infection as detected by the CMT reactions.

Mastitis is common in buffaloes with significant impact on the rural economy. The present work was undertaken to find out the prevalence of sub clinical mastitis in buffaloes in and around Gannavaram, Andhra Pradesh, India by using different diagnostic methods. The prevalence of sub clinical mastitis based on California Mastitis Test, somatic cell count, electrical resistance and milk pH was 20.34, 21.62, 6.20 and 8.27 percent, respectively on screening of 629 quarters of 158 Graded Murrah buffaloes. Bacterial culture was considered to be a gold standard and revealed the prevalence as 28.30 percent with 178 quarter milk samples positive for bacterial growth. Further the study was also focussed on the comparison of the diagnostic tests CMT, SCC, ER and pH by using culture results as gold standard. The percent accuracy of California Mastitis Test, Somatic cell count, electrical resistance and pH were 89.83, 92.69, 77.27 and 79.65, respectively.