The kit, called Check-Up, is made by Biofilm Research Laboratories, Auckland, for an associate company Farm Medix Ltd.
Once the pathogen is identified, the treatment and potential sources can be established, reducing the likelihood of more cows being infected. The kit allows farmers to screen cows at drying-off and use teat seal rather than dry-cow therapy for cows with no infection.
The kit is also seen as useful for vets. It reduces overhead costs, saves time and usually makes further testing unnecessary, the company says.
The kit has been evaluated by DairyNZ and has attracted interest from the international dairy industry, says Leon Spurrell, a co-director of Biofilm Research Labs.
The company says it asked a selected sample of farmers nationwide for milk samples from sick cows, or their worst 10 results from regular somatic cell count herd tests.
“What we found was startling,” says Spurrell. “Some cows had been infected with contagious pathogens which could rapidly spread through the herd during milking. In other cases, the infective agents were organisms that will not respond to antibiotic treatment, such as fungal mastitis, algal mastitis, Pseudomonas and yeast.
“Treating cows with pointless antibiotics wastes money for drugs, in lost milk when mastitis persists, and during the milk withholding period, not to mention labour costs.”
Standard testing of herds and daily milk supplies gives farmers an indication of their animals’ general health, the company says. But they lack information about the cause of infections.
“Check-Up allows a diagnosis onfarm; control is back in farmers’ hands.”
The product development was helped by a ‘Getting Started’ grant from Callaghan Innovation in 2013. This contributed towards the trial.
Tel. 021 440575
www.farmmedix.com
