A. L., S., Kashoma, I., Lupindu, A. (2025). Comparative Evaluation of Some Diagnostic Tests for on-farm Screening of Subclinical Mastitis in Crossbreed Dairy Cows. Journal of Applied Veterinary Sciences, 10(2), 75-85. doi: 10.21608/javs.2025.351733.1517
Sangwa A. L.; I.P. Kashoma; A.M. Lupindu. "Comparative Evaluation of Some Diagnostic Tests for on-farm Screening of Subclinical Mastitis in Crossbreed Dairy Cows". Journal of Applied Veterinary Sciences, 10, 2, 2025, 75-85. doi: 10.21608/javs.2025.351733.1517
A. L., S., Kashoma, I., Lupindu, A. (2025). 'Comparative Evaluation of Some Diagnostic Tests for on-farm Screening of Subclinical Mastitis in Crossbreed Dairy Cows', Journal of Applied Veterinary Sciences, 10(2), pp. 75-85. doi: 10.21608/javs.2025.351733.1517
A. L., S., Kashoma, I., Lupindu, A. Comparative Evaluation of Some Diagnostic Tests for on-farm Screening of Subclinical Mastitis in Crossbreed Dairy Cows. Journal of Applied Veterinary Sciences, 2025; 10(2): 75-85. doi: 10.21608/javs.2025.351733.1517
Comparative Evaluation of Some Diagnostic Tests for on-farm Screening of Subclinical Mastitis in Crossbreed Dairy Cows
1Department of Veterinary Medicine and Public Health, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P. O. Box 3021, Morogoro, Tanzania; Mbarali District Council, P.O. Box 237, Rujewa, Tanzania
2Department of Veterinary Surgery and Theriogenology, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania. P. O. Box 3020, Chuo Kikuu, Morogoro, Tanzania
3Department of Veterinary Medicine and Public Health, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P. O. Box 3021, Morogoro, Tanzania
Receive Date: 17 January 2025,
Revise Date: 05 March 2025,
Accept Date: 06 March 2025
Abstract
Subclinical mastitis is a costly disease for dairy cattle worldwide due to economic losses from reduced milk yield, veterinary costs, and premature culling; thus, regular screening is of paramount importance for early detection, prompt treatment, and effective control measures. This study was conducted to assess the possible risk factors and compare the efficiency of three indirect mastitis diagnostic tests for their ability to classify correctly under health status in individual cows. Seven hundred and forty-two milk samples from 186 lactating cows kept in six farms were screened for subclinical mastitis using Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), California Mastitis Test (CMT), and Somatic Cell Count (SCC). The research revealed moderate overall prevalence (21.5%) of farm-level subclinical mastitis with high (65.2%) prevalence in farm B and low (10.7%) in farm F. Specific test-based results were 36.56%, 36.56% and 21.51% for SLT, CMT and SCC, respectively. There was a statistical difference (p=0.0001) between SCC and SLS and between SCC and CMT, but no significant differences (p=0.57) were observed between SLS and CMT. Quarter subclinical mastitis prevalence for SLS, CMT, and SCC was 16.85% (95% CI: 14.3-19.7), 15.77% (95% CI: 13.1-18.3), and 8.45% (95% CI: 6.4-10.5), respectively. Both SLS and CMT demonstrated strong sensitivity (100% and 90.48%) and specificity (90.72% and 91.16%) compared to the SCC test. Positive predictive values for SLS and CMT were 50% and 48.72%, respectively, whereas negative predictive values for SLS and CMT were 100% and 99.04%. Cohen’s Kappa of SLS was 0.62, while CMT showed 0.58. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for SLS and CMT was 0.996 and 0.997, respectively. The diagnostic accuracy of SLS and CMT were 91.51 and 91.11, respectively. Based on the diagnostic efficiency of SLS in terms of sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and kappa index, it is suggested that SLS can be used as an alternative to CMT for animal-side subclinical mastitis diagnostic tests.
ABRAHMSÉN, M., PERSSON, Y., KANYIMA, B. M., and BÅGE, R., 2014. Prevalence of subclinical mastitis in dairy farms in urban and peri-urban areas of Kampala, Uganda. Tropical Animal Health and Production, 46(1), 99–105. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-013-0455-7
ALHUSSIEN, M. N., and DANG, A. K., 2018. Milk somatic cells, factors influencing their release, future prospects, and practical utility in dairy animals: An overview. Veterinary World, 11(5), 562–577. https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2018.562-577
ALHUSSIEN, M. N., PANDA, B. S. K., and DANG, A. K., 2021. A Comparative Study on Changes in Total and Differential Milk Cell Counts, Activity, and Expression of Milk Phagocytes of Healthy and Mastitic Indigenous Sahiwal Cows. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 8(June), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.670811
ALI, H. W., and DAHL, M. O., 2022. Comparison of California mastitis test and Draminski mastitis detector as on-farm methods for monitoring udder health in lactating buffalo. Iraqi Journal of Veterinary Sciences, 36(supp1), 55–60. https://doi.org/10.33899/ijvs.2022.135362.2469
ANDREWS, A. H. 2004. Bovine Medicine Diseases and Husbandry of Cattle (R. W. B. H. B. R. G. Eddy (ed.); Second edi, Vol. 2). Blackwell Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470752401.ch14
BELACHEW, T. 2016. Bovine Mastitis: Prevalence, Isolation of Bacterial Species Involved and its Antimicrobial Susceptibility Test around Debrezeit, Ethiopia. Journal of Veterinary Science and Technology, 07(06). https://doi.org/10.4172/2157-7579.1000396
BISCOTTO, J. V. G., AMARAL, M. M., and DA CUNHA, A. F., 2022. Prevalence and influence of clinical and subclinical mastitis in the service period of dairy cows in Tarumirim (MG). Acta Veterinaria Brasilica, 16(3), 205–210. https://doi.org/10.21708/avb.2022.16.3.10609
BÖKER, A. R., BARTEL, A., DO DUC, P., HENTZSCH, A., REICHMANN, F., MERLE, R., ARNDT, H., DACHRODT, L., WOUDSTRA, S., and HOEDEMAKER, M., 2023. Status of udder health performance indicators and implementation of on farm monitoring on German dairy cow farms: results from a large scale cross-sectional study. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 10(May). https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1193301
ÇILEK, S., and GOTOH, T., 2012. Effects of calving years, times and seasons on milk yield traits in Turkish brown Swiss cows in a steppe climate. Journal of the Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, 57(2), 447–451. https://doi.org/10.5109/25204
COBIRKA, M., TANCIN, V., and SLAMA, P. 2020. Epidemiology and Classification of Mastitis. 1–17.
ÇÝLEK, S., and TEKÝN, M. E., 2005. Environmental factors affecting milk yield traits of Brown Swiss cows raised at Ulaş State Farm and phenotypic correlations between milk yield and fertility traits. Indian Journal of Animal Sciences, 77(2), 154–157.
DAMIAN, K., ROBINSON, M., LUGHANO, K., and GABRIEL, S., 2021. Prevalence and risk factors associated with subclinical mastitis in lactating dairy cows under smallholder dairy farming in North East Tanzania. Journal of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health, 13(1), 55–64. https://doi.org/10.5897/jvmah2019.0775
DINGWELL, R. T., LESLIE, K. E., SCHUKKEN, Y. H., SARGEANT, J. M., and TIMMS, L. L., 2003. Evaluation of the California mastitis test to detect an intramammary infection with a major pathogen in early lactation dairy cows. Canadian Veterinary Journal, 44(5), 413–416. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC340150/
DOHOO, I. R., SMITH, J., ANDERSEN, S., KELTON, D. F., and GODDEN, S., 2011. Diagnosing intramammary infections: Evaluation of definitions based on a single milk sample. Journal of Dairy Science, 94(1), 250–261. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2010-3559
FOSGATE, G. T., PETZER, I. M., and KARZIS, J., 2013. Sensitivity and specificity of a hand-held milk electrical conductivity meter compared to the California mastitis test for mastitis in dairy cattle. Veterinary Journal, 196(1), 98–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tvjl.2012.07.026
GANGAN, J. E. 2023. Low- Cost Liduid Anionic Surfactants in Mastitis Detection for Small-Hold Dairy Buffalo Farmers. July.
GODDEN, S. M., ROYSTER, E., TIMMERMAN, J., RAPNICKI, P., and GREEN, H., 2017. Evaluation of an automated milk leukocyte differential test and the California Mastitis Test for detecting intramammary infection in early- and late-lactation quarters and cows. Journal of Dairy Science, 100(8), 6527–6544. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2017-12548
HAJIAN-TILAKI, K. 2013. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis for medical diagnostic test evaluation. Caspian Journal of Internal Medicine, 4(2), 627–635.
HUANG, C. H., and KUSABA, N., 2022. Association between differential somatic cell count and California Mastitis Test results in Holstein cattle. JDS Communications, 3(6), 441–445. https://doi.org/10.3168/jdsc.2022-0249
JACOBSEN, L. A., NIESEN, A. M., LUCEY, P., and ROSSOW, H. A., 2023. Evaluation of Cow-Side Meters to Determine Somatic Cell Count in Individual Cow Quarter and Bulk-Tank Milk Samples. Animals, 13(13). https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13132169
KAKOOZA, S., MUTEBI, F., SSAJJAKAMBWE, P., WAMPANDE, E., NABATTA, E., ATUHEIRE, C., TSUCHIDA, S., OKUBO, T., USHIDA, K., and KANEENE, J. B., 2023. Mastitis on selected farms in Wakiso district, Uganda: Burden, pathogens and predictors of infectivity of antimicrobial resistant bacteria in dairy herds. Veterinary Medicine and Science, 9(5), 2376–2385. https://doi.org/10.1002/vms3.1234
KIVARIA, F. M. 2006. Epidemiological Studies on Bovine Mastitis in Smallholder Dairy Herds in the Dar es Salaam Region , Tanzania. Tropical Animal Health and Production, 169.
KÖLLMANN, K., ZHANG, Y., WENTE, N., LÜCKEN, A., LEIMBACH, S., and KRÖMKER, V., 2021. Effects of Suckling on the Udder Health of Foster Cows. Ruminants, 1(2), 100–117. https://doi.org/10.3390/ruminants1020008
KOMBA, E. V., and KASHOMA, I. P., 2020. Prevalence and Economic Impacts of Retained Placenta and Subclinical Mastitis in Tanzanian Dairy Cows. 1–25.
KOUR, S., SHARMA, N., BALAJI, N., KUMAR, P., SOODAN, J. S., VEIGA, M., and SON, Y., 2023. veterinary sciences Advances in Diagnostic Approaches and Therapeutic Management in Bovine Mastitis.
LEACH, K. A., GREEN, M. J., BREEN, J. E., HUXLEY, J. N., MACAULAY, R., NEWTON, H. T., and BRADLEY, A. J., 2008. Use of domestic detergents in the California mastitis test for high somatic cell counts in milk. Veterinary Record, 163(19), 566–570. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.163.19.566
MDEGELA, R. H., KUSILUKA, L. J. M., KAPAGA, A. M., KARIMURIBO, E. D., TURUKA, F. M., BUNDALA, A., KIVARIA, F., KABULA, B., MANJURANO, A., LOKEN, T., and KAMBARAGE, D. M., 2004. Prevalence and determinants of mastitis and milk-borne zoonoses in smallholder dairy farming sector in Kibaha and Morogoro districts in eastern Tanzania. Journal of Veterinary Medicine Series B: Infectious Diseases and Veterinary Public Health, 51(3), 123–128. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0450.2004.00735.x
MDEGELA, R. H., RYOBA, R., KARIMURIBO, E. D., PHIRI, E. J., LØKEN, T., REKSEN, O., MTENGETI, E., and URIO, N. A., 2009. Prevalence of clinical and subclinical mastitis and quality of milk on smallholder dairy farms in Tanzania. Journal of the South African Veterinary Association, 80(3), 163–168. https://doi.org/10.4102/jsava.v80i3.195
MGONJA, F. R., CHARLES, M. M., and KATAKWEBA, A. S., 2023. Article 1019 Citation: Mgonja FR, Charles MM, Katakweba AS. Prevalence of Subclinical Mastitis and Associated Risk Factors in Dairy Cattle from Institution Farms in Morogoro Municipality. World J Vet Sci, 4(1), 1020.
MONAGHAN, T. F., RAHMAN, S. N., AGUDELO, C. W., WEIN, A. J., LAZAR, J. M., EVERAERT, K., and DMOCHOWSKI, R. R., 2021. Foundational statistical principles in medical research : Predictive value. Medicina, 57(5), 503.
MRAMBA, R. P., and MOHAMED, M. A., 2024. The prevalence and factors associated with mastitis in dairy cows kept by small-scale farmers in Dodoma, Tanzania. Heliyon, 10(13), e34122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e34122
MUREITHI, D. K., and NJUGUNA, M. N., 2016. Prevalence of subclinical mastitis and associated risk factors in dairy farms in urban and peri-urban areas of Thika Sub County, Kenya. Livestock Research for Rural Development, 28(2).
NARVÁEZ-SEMANATE, J. L., DAZA-BOLAÑOS, C. A., VALENCIA-HOYOS, C. E., HURTADO-GARZÓN, D. T., and ACOSTA-JURADO, D. C., 2022. Diagnostic methods of subclinical mastitis in bovine milk: an overview. Revista Facultad Nacional de Agronomia Medellin, 75(3), 10077–10088. https://doi.org/10.15446/rfnam.v75n3.100520
NDAHETUYE, J. B., PERSSON, Y., NYMAN, A. K., TUKEI, M., ONGOL, M. P., and BÅGE, R., 2019. Aetiology and prevalence of subclinical mastitis in dairy herds in peri-urban areas of Kigali in Rwanda. Tropical Animal Health and Production, 51(7), 2037–2044. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-019-01905-2
NGOTHO, M., KAGIRA, J., NKOIBONI, D., NJOROGE, J., and MAINA, N., 2022. Risk Factors Associated with Sub-Clinical Mastitis and Antibacterial Resistance in Small-Holder Dairy Farms of Kajiado North Sub-County, Kenya. Journal of Veterinary Physiology and Pathology, 1(3), 49–55. https://doi.org/10.58803/jvpp.v1i3.8
REDDY, B. S. S., KUMARI, K. N., REDDY, Y. R., REDDY, M. VIJAYA B., and REDDY, B. S., 2014. International Journal of Veterinary Science Comparison of Different Diagnostic Tests in Subclinical Mastitis in Dairy Cattle. International Journal of Veterinary Science, 3(4), 224–228. http://www.ijvets.com/pdf-files/Volume-3-no-4-2014/224-228.pdf
SARGEANT, J. M., LESLIE, K. E., SHIRLEY, J. E., PULKRABEK, B. J., and LIM, G. H., 2001. Sensitivity and specificity of somatic cell count and California Mastitis Test for identifying intramammary infection in early lactation. Journal of Dairy Science, 84(9), 2018–2024. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(01)74645-0
SHARMA, N., and PANDEY, V., 2011. Comparative evaluation of three tests used for the screening of mastitis. Indian Journal of Animal Sciences, 81(2), 140.
TANNI, N. S., ISLAM, M. S., KABIR, M., PARVIN, S., EHSAN, M. A., and ISLAM, M. T., 2021a. Evaluation of sodium lauryl sulfate for the development of cow-side mastitis screening test. Veterinary World, 14(8), 2290–2295. https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2021.2290-2295
TANNI, N. S., ISLAM, M. S., KABIR, M., PARVIN, S., EHSAN, M. A., and ISLAM, M. T., 2021b. Mastitis can be caused by either infectious or non-infectious factors. Infectious agents encompass microbes, fungi, yeasts, and viruses. Bacterial infections, notably Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus species, are the predominant agents (Thakur et a. Veterinary World, 14(8), 2290–2295. https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2021.2290-2295
THAKUR, D., SINGH, R., KUMAR, A., KUMAR JHA, V., and KUMAR SINGH, P., 2018. Isolation and Identification of Major Pathogen from Clinical and Subclinical Mastitis Milk Sample and Their Antibiotic Sensitivity Evaluation. Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci, 7, 4315–4321. http://www.ijcmas.com
TOMMASONI, C., FIORE, E., LISUZZO, A., and GIANESELLA, M., 2023. Mastitis in Dairy Cattle: On-Farm Diagnostics and Future Perspectives. Animals, 13(15), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13152538
WAMINAL, Y. O. 2021. Available Online at : https://www.scholarzest.com. Low- Cost Liquid Anionic Surfactant in Mastitis Detection for Small Scale Dairy Buffalo Raisers in Philippines. 2(4), 43–48.
WAMINAL, Y. O., GAMBOL, M. R., SABADO, A. C., VALLEJOS, J. P. M., BRIONES, R. C., and ESTABILLO, E. J. M., 2021. Mastitis Detection in Holstein Sahiwal Crossbred Cattle (Bos taurus) Using Different Brands and Dilution Levels of Liquid Anionic Surfactants. Animal Production, 23(32), 144–150. https://doi.org/10.20884/1.jap.2021.23.3.103
ZERYEHUN, T., AYA, T., and BAYECHA, R., 2013. Study on prevalence, bacterial pathogens and associated risk factors of bovine mastitis in small holder dairy farms in and around addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences, 23(1), 50–55.