Cow mastitis is an inflammation of the mammary gland (udder) in cows, most often caused by bacterial infection, physical trauma, or chemical irritation. It is the most common and costly disease in the dairy industry, leading to decreased milk production, changes in milk quality, and, in severe cases, death. Key symptoms include swelling, redness, heat, and pain in the udder. Treatment often requires the use of antibiotics.
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) can cause severe and often chronic mastitis in dairy cows. This occurs because the virus forms vesicles (blisters) on the teats, which frequently lead to secondary bacterial infections and permanent udder damage. This results in long-term milk yield drops and reduced udder health, often necessitating culling.
Milk from cows infected with FMD that also has a high somatic cell count (SCC) presents significant challenges for dairy processing, including reduced yields and lower product quality. While the FMD virus itself is not zoonotic and poses no direct health risk to humans (provided proper heat treatment), the associated high SCC, usually indicating mastitis or udder damage caused by the virus, can substantially alter the milk’s chemical composition.