Mastatest, the innovative automated bovine mastitis diagnostic
Mastatest is a fully automated mastitis diagnostic that rapidly informs dairy farmers about causative bacterial type, antibiotic sensitivity, and gives a vet-recommended treatment protocol.
It gives dairy farmers and vets timely and precise data about the cause of mastitis cases, the optimal treatment plan, and long-term herd insight to guide management decisions.
A collected milk sample is poured into a cartridge, placed in the ‘Lapbox’ hardware unit, and a cycle started – a process which takes less than 30 seconds. The sample is then automatically processed in the Lapbox, which works by capturing images of the colour-change reactions within the cartridge and transmits them to the cloud for analysis and interpretation.
Within 24 hours, farmer and vet will receive electronic notification of the result, stating the cause of mastitis, the antibiotic sensitivity of the strain present, and a recommended treatment plan based on the protocol determined by your vet. All on-farm data is captured in an online console, fully accessible by farmer and vet, providing an invaluable resource for mastitis control planning.
Up to 50% of mastitis on UK dairy farms is caused by gram negative bacteria such as E.coli, or does not have a bacterial cause. Multiple studies have shown that treating these mastitis cases with antibiotics is unnecessary, as they typically resolve without any intervention.
For those cows that do have a gram-positive mastitis infection the unique Mastaplex system also indicates which antibiotic the particular strain will be most sensitive to, and provides a vet-recommended treatment protocol. Mastatest provides a simple and effective solution to farmers wanting to better manage mastitis on farm. They should benefit immediately with optimal treatment choices, and over time the farm-specific data-set is going to prove invaluable for planning and informing those big mastitis management decisions.
By using Mastatest farmers can reduce the use of antibiotics, leading to fewer and shorter milk withholding periods.
For more information about installing Mastatest, go to www.mastatest.com/get-in-touch
