Diagnostic Alternatives Used by Veterinary Surgeons for the Recording of Udder Diseases in the Norwegian Health Card System for Cattle | Praktiserende veterinœrers bruk av diagnosealternativer ved registrering av jursjukdommer i det norske helsekortsystemet for storfe

A questionnaire, in which 7 cases of udder disease were described, was distributed to 890 veterinarians in Norway. They were requested to classify the cases according to the diagnostic alternatives listed in the Norwegian Health Card System for Cattle (NHCSC). The NHCSC recordings are used for progeny testing of bulls, for disease monitoring, and for research purposes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of the recordings for udder diseases. The questionnaire was answered by 633 veterinary surgeons. Four cases of clinical mastitis (CM) with abnormal secretion as well as other clinical signs of inflammation were correctly classified as CM by almost 100% of the veterinary surgeons. A cow in the final stage of lactation, showing no clinical signs except for clots in the milk, was considered not to be a clinical case by more than 25% of the veterinary surgeons. A typical case of subclinical mastitis (SM) was reported as SM by 83% of the veterinary surgeons, and as CM by 16%. A subclinical case with a recent history of clots in the secretion was classified as SM by 66% of the veterinary surgeons, but almost 40% either reported CM as their sole diagnosis or considered the case to be CM in combination with SM. Of the clinical cases, those exhibiting marked local signs of inflammation and a systemic reaction were correctly classified as acute clinical mastitis (ACM) by 96%–98% of the veterinary surgeons. In the NHCSC, the diagnostic alternatives for cases of CM are ACM and chronic clinical mastitis (CCM). One case, for which the diagnosis subacute clinical mastitis was appropriate according to standard definitions, was classified as CCM by 66%), and as ACM by 6%. Based on the information given in the questionnaire, the diagnosis for 2 of the clinical cases could have been either ACM or CCM, and for both cases each of these 2 alternatives was reported by more than 43% of the veterinary surgeons. A teat lesion, which was present together with ACM in one cow, was reported by 91% of the veterinary surgeons.