Intramammary infections with Corynebacterium spp. in bovine lactating udder quarters

PLoS One. 2022 Jul 7;17(7):e0270867. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0270867. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

Corynebacterium spp. are frequently detected in bovine quarter milk samples, yet their impact on udder health has not been determined completely. In this longitudinal study, we collected quarter milk samples from a dairy herd of approximately 200 cows, ten times at 14 d intervals. Bacteriologically, Catalase-positive and Gram-positive rods were detected in 22.7% of the samples. For further species diagnosis, colonies were analyzed by MALDI-TOF MS. Corynebacterium bovis, C. amycolatum, C. xerosis and 10 other Corynebacterium spp. were detected. The three aforementioned species accounted for 88.4%, 8.65% and 0.94% of all cultured Corynebacterium spp., respectively. For further evaluation of infection dynamics, the following three infection definitions were applied: A (2/3 consecutive samples positive for the same species), B (≥1000 cfu/mL in one sample), C (isolated from a clinical mastitis case). Infections according to definition B occurred most frequently and clinical mastitis with Corynebacterium spp. occurred once during sampling. Life tables were used to determine the duration of infection. According to infection definition A, infection durations of 111 d and 98 d were obtained for C. bovis and C. amycolatum, respectively. Exemplarily, longer lasting infections were examined for their strain diversity by RAPD PCR. A low strain diversity was found in the individual quarters that indicates a longer colonization of the udder parenchyma by C. bovis and C. amycolatum.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cattle
  • Corynebacterium / genetics
  • Corynebacterium Infections* / epidemiology
  • Corynebacterium Infections* / microbiology
  • Corynebacterium Infections* / veterinary
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Lactation
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Mammary Glands, Animal / microbiology
  • Mastitis, Bovine* / epidemiology
  • Mastitis, Bovine* / microbiology
  • Milk / microbiology
  • Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique
  • Staphylococcal Infections* / microbiology

Grants and funding

Anneke Lücken has received a scholarship from the Steinbeis Research Centre Milk Science to carry out the work. The website is www.muhh.eu The sampling and investigation was funded by the Formas project - indicated in the article. https://www.slu.se/en/faculties/vh/research/forskningsprojekt/not/precision-livestock-breeding/ The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.