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Breeding mastitis out of the dairy herd
19 Apr 2004
New technology developed by CSIRO Livestock Industries will lead to strategies which should substantially reduce the $140 million lost each year due to dairy cows contracting udder infections. Developed with support from the Innovative Dairy Products Co-operative Research Centre, the bovine immune gene microarray provides researchers with the means to rapidly assess the gene activity profiles of infected and mastitis-resistant cattle.
Identifying the genes responsible for resistance or susceptibility to mastitis opens up the possibility of selecting and breeding dairy cattle with an increased natural resistance to the disease, the research team leader Dr Ross Tellam said.
The Dairy CRC's CEO Dr Paul Donnelly said it's desirable that the industry develops approaches to managing mastitis which reduce the dependence on antibiotics. Lowering the incidence of mastitis through improved genetics will lessen costs to individual farmers and improve animal welfare, he stated.
CSIRO Media Release, 2/4/04.
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