Prevalence and etiology of mastitis and

related management factors in market

oriented smallholder dairy farms in Adama,
Ethiopia

H. MEKONNEN1* AND A. TESFAYE2

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Addis Ababa University, P.O.Box 34, Debre Zeit, ETHIOPIA.
2
MoA, ETHIOPIA.

*Corresponding author: alemu57@yahoo.com

SUMMARY RSUM

Prvalence, tiologie et facteurs de risque des mammites dans les petits

Husbandry practices, mastitis prevalence, mastitis causing pathogens and
levages laitiers en Adama, Ethiopie
risk factors were studied in 95 smallholder farms in Adama town, Ethiopia.
Data were collected by using questionnaire survey, farm visit, animal exa-
La conduite de troupeau, la prvalence des agents pathognes intra-mam-
mination and microbiological investigation of milk samples. Fifty nine percent
maires et les situations risque en matire des mammites sont tudies dans
of the farms were owned by women and the rest by men. For the majority of
95 petits levages laitiers en Adama, Ethiopie. Les donnes ont t
the households (74.7%) dairying was a sideline activity. However in all
recueillies au travers dentretiens (questionnaire), de visites des levages, de
smallholder farms animals were permanently housed and stall fed. Sixty
lexamen des animaux et par culture bactriologique du lait. Cinquante neuf
two percent of the herds, 48% of the cows and 24.6% of the quarters were
pour cent des levages appartiennent des femmes et le reste des hommes.
affected by mastitis. The prevalence of sub-clinical mastitis was higher than
Pour la grande majorit (74,7 %) des leveurs, la production laitire est une
clinical mastitis by 4.5, 6.6 and 9.3 folds, respectively, at herd, cow and
activit secondaire. Par contre, dans tous les levages laitirs, les vaches sont
quarter levels. Different bacterial species with varying frequency of isolation
loges en tables entraves avec une alimentation offerte sur place. Soixante
were identified from mastitic cows milk samples. CNS was the predominant
deux pour cent des troupeaux, 48 % des vaches et 24,6 % des quartiers sont
pathogen representing 21.2% of all the isolates. From the total isolates,
affects par des mammites. La prvalence des mammites subcliniques
contagious mastitis causing organisms (CNS, S. aureus, S. agalactiae, S.
dpasse celle des mammites cliniques de 4.5, 6.6 et 9.3 fois, respectivement
dysaglactiae) were more frequently observed than organisms responsible
l'chelle du troupeau, des vaches et des quartiers. La culture bactriolo-
for environmental mastitis (S. uberis, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia
gique des chantillons de lait des vaches atteintes des mammites a permis
coli) Duration of farming, the place of dairying in the household economy,
didentifier diffrentes espces de microbes: les staphylocoques coagulase
barn hygiene, pervious mastitis incidence, stage of milking mastitic cows
ngative (CNS) ont t les plus frquemment isols. En gnral, les micro-
and body condition scores were found to be significantly associated with
organismes contagieux (CNS, S. aureus, S. agalactiae, S. dysgalactiae) ont
mastitis prevalence (P<0.05). Determination of mastitis causing organisms
t les pathognes les plus dominants. La dure de llevage, la place de l-
and associated risk factors is believed to have considerable importance both
levage laitier dans lactivit de lleveur, lhygine de btiment, les cas des
for the choice of treatment as well as for devising good farming practice.
mammites antrieurs, lordre de traite et ltat dengraissement des vaches
ont t significativement associs (P<0.05) aux mammites. Lidentification
Keywords: Husbandry, prevalence, etiology, mastitis, des agents pathognes des mammites et la dtermination des facteurs de
smallholder, Ethiopia. risque auront une importance dans le choix des traitements, de mme que
pour recommander une srie de bonnes pratiques pour rduire la mammite
dans les troupeaux.

Mots cls : Gestion, prvalence, tiologie, mammite,

petit levage, Ethiopie.

The optimal milk productivity of cattle in Ethiopia has not

Introduction
Dairy production in Ethiopia is mainly of traditional small-
holder system. The country is the most populous in livestock
population than any African country, but per capita consump-
tion of milk (17 kg per year) is much lower than the average
for Africa (26 kg per year) [1].
been realized due to several constraints, of which mastitis
was/is indicated as persistent problem [7, 9, 13, 22].
Distribution of mastitis causing bacteria may show conside-
rable geographic variation [16].
The present study was, therefore, undertaken to determine
the prevalence and causative agents of mastitis and associated
risk factors in smallholder dairies in Adam district.

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MASTITIS IN SMALLHOLDER DAIRY FARMS IN ADAMA
Materials and Methods
STUDY AREA AND STUDY POPULATION
The study was conducted in Adama district located in the
Rift Valley, about 95 Km southeast of Addis Ababa (39.17N
and 8.33E) with an altitude of 1622m above sea level. It
receives an annual rainfall ranging from 400 to 800mm. The
temperature range is 13.9 to 27.7C [15]. Adama is one of
the most populous townships in the country with a signifi-
cant number of households engaged in smallholder dairying.
Sample size was determined with expected mastitis preva-
lence of 13.8% (reported for a near-by district [11]), at 95%
confidence level and 5% confidence interval. Between clus-
ters variance was calculated from earlier reports of mastitis
prevalence of 11.6% and 13.8% for near-by districts [11].
Thrustfields mathematical model [21] was used in one stage
cluster sampling method with predicted number of animals
per cluster of 2.
1.962 [nVc + Pexp (1 - Pexp)]
g=
nd2
Where, g = number of clusters to be sampled; n = predicted
number of animals per cluster (2animals); Pexp = expected
prevalence (13.8%), d = desired absolute precision (0.05),
Vc= between cluster variance (0.011).
Accordingly, a total of 102 smallholder farmers (clusters)
were randomly selected from a list of market oriented small-
holder farms obtained from the Adama district Office of
Agriculture. Seven of the selected study herds were dropped
due to accessibility problem (3 farms) and missing relevant
information (4 farms).
DATA COLLECTION
Data were collected by way of a cross-sectional question-
naire survey, farm visits and bacteriological analysis of milk
samples. The questionnaire was semi-structured type, pre-
tested and adjusted prior to its full administration. It was
focusing on demographic characteristics of farm owners,
livestock herd size, husbandry practices and previous history
of mastitis. Variables inspected and/or measured during farm
visit included housing conditions, cows age, body condition
and udder health status. Cow BCS was measured using a 5-
point scale, which has been described previously [10]. Age
was determined based on the animals dentition as described
by AMSTUTZ [3]. Udder health status was assessed by phy-
sical examination and by performing California Mastitis Test
(CMT) for each quarter of lactating cows. The CMT results
were interpreted as per the recommendation given by
QUINN et al. [17]. Clinical mastitis was recognized by
abnormal milk and signs of udder inflammation. Subclinical
mastitis was defined as those udder quarters producing appa-
rently normal milk but with a positive California Mastitis Test.
Milk samples from CMT positive quarters were collected
for bacteriological examination following strict aseptic pro-
cedures [15, 18]. After the teats washed with soap and water
Revue Md. Vt., 2010, 161, 12, 574-579
575
and disinfected with 70% ethanol, the first few streams of
milk were removed and discarded. Approximately 10 ml of
milk was then collected into sterile containers. Samples were
transported on icebox to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicines
microbiology laboratory, where they were cultured immedia-
tely or stored at 4-5C for a maximum of 24h until they were
inoculated onto standard bacteriological media.
Isolation and identification of bacteria was conducted in
the microbiology laboratory of the Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine following standard procedure [17, 20]. About 10
microL from each milk sample was streaked on tryptose
blood agar base enriched with 7% sheep blood (Oxoid,
Unipath Ltd, Basengstoke, UK). Blood agar plates were
incubated aerobically at 370 C for up to 72 h. The plates
were examined for growth, colony morphology, and haemo-
lytic characteristics at 24, 48 and 72 h. Bacteria on culture-
positive plates were identified according to Gram-stain reac-
tion, colony morphology, haemolytic characteristics and
catalase test. Staphylococci, micrococci, and streptococcal
species were identified by standard methods [17, 20]. Gram-
negative isolates were inoculated on MacConkeys agar
(Oxoid) and then evaluated by standard procedures [17, 20].
DATA ANALYSIS
Microsoft Excel computer program (Version 6.0, 2000)
was used for data entry and descriptive statistics. The asso-
ciation between mastitis prevalence and risk factors was tested
by logistic regression of inter cooled Stata 7.0 (STATA,
2001). Prevalence of mastitis was dependent variable while
characteristics considered at herd and cow levels were inde-
pendent variables.
Results
FARM CHARACTERISTICS AND HUSBANDRY PRACTICES
Table 1 shows some of the household characteristics and
husbandry practices recorded in the study farms. From a total
of 95 market oriented smallholder dairy farms surveyed, the
majority (58.9% of the herds and 59.2 of the milking cows)
were owned by females and the rest by men. Farm owners
were of diverse educational statuses with 55.6% having attai-
ned high school and above level of education. Dairying was
primary source of income for a quarter of surveyed small-
holders. The average cattle herd size per household was 5.2,
of which 2.2 were milking cows. The majority (67.3%) of
the farms had less than 8 years of farming duration and most
of them (78%) started their dairy activity with animals pur-
chased from herds owned by other smallholders in the near-by.
The majority (81%) of the smallholders use family labour for
routine farm activities.
Animals were housed in closed (39%) and semi open
(61%) tie stall barns and were stall fed. The majority of the
barns (62.1%) had concrete floors but the ones with good
drainage were only 30%. Stall feeding was practiced in
almost all farms with purchased fodder and concentrate. All
576 MEKONNEN (H.) AND TESFAYE (A.)

Factor Number of Mastitis

and category Herds n=95 Cows n=206 Prevalence (in %) 2 df P
Farm owners
Male 39(41.1) 84(40.8) 48.6 0.03 1 0.87
Female 56(58.9) 122(59.2) 47.2
Farm owners educat.
Illiterate 23(24.2) 48(23.3) 64.1 2
Elementary 22(23.2) 35(17) 49.7
High school & above 50(52.6) 123(59.7) 41.3
Dairy farming
Main active. 24(25.3) 57(27.7) 31 4.1 1 0.04
Secon. Activ 71(74.7) 149(72.3) 54.4
Farming duration
4years 18(18.9) 24(11.7) 69.7 2.9 2 0.02
5-8years 46(48.4) 99(48.1) 44.3
9years 31(32.6) 83(40.3) 46.3
Floor type
Concrete 59(62.1) 130(63.1) 46.4 2.5 2 0.3
Stone layer 24(25.3) 40(19.4) 53.4
Dirt 12(12.6) 36(17.4) 48.1
Barn floor drainage
Good 29(30.5) 58(28.2) 40.8 6.02 2 0.05
Fair 33(34.7) 71(34.5) 41.9
Poor 33(34.7) 77(37.4) 59.2

TABLE I: Farm characteristics, husbandry practices and mastitis prevalence in market oriented smallholder dairy farms in Adama distric,
Ethiopia.

farms practice hand milking twice per day and milking of
mastitic cow at last was practiced in only 43.7% of the farms.
Prevalence of mastitis
Table 2a illustrates the prevalence of clinical and sub-clinical
mastitis in 95 smallholder herds that had a total number of
206 milking cows. Out of 824 quarters examined 30 quarters
(3.6%), belonging to 16 cows (7.8%) were blind. Fifty three
percent of the blind quarters were right hind, 20% right fore,
6.7% left hind and 20% left fore quarters. The differences
were statistically significant (P< 0.05). Sixty two percent of
the herds, 48% of the cows and 24.6% of the quarters were
affected by clinical and/or sub-clinical mastitis. Out of the
total number of 195 quarters affected by clinical and sub-clinical
mastitis 48(24.6%) were right fore, 50(25.6%) right hind,
53(27.2%) left fore and 44 (22.6%) left hind quarters. The
prevalence of sub-clinical mastitis was higher than clinical
mastitis at herd, cow and quarter levels, respectively, by 4.5,
6.6 and 9.3 times.
Bacterial isolates
Table 3 shows the details of bacterial isolates identified
from culture positive milk samples. From a total of 99 milk
samples cultured (one sample per mastitic cow), 82 were cul-
ture positive, 8 were discarded for contamination and the rest
(9) were culture negative. A total of 95 isolates were identified
of which CNS (coagulase negative staphylococci) represented
the highest proportion (21.2%). The organisms identified
could be grouped as contagious (CNS, S. aureus, S. agalactiae,
S. dysgalactiae..) and environmental mastitis causing pathogens
like coliforms (Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis),
Streptococcus uberis,
Management factors related to mastitis
The prevalence of mastitis was found to be significantly
associated with some of the household characteristics and
management practices (Tables 1 and 4). Mastitis was found
to be more prevalent in smallholder farms where dairying is
considered as a secondary activity. Mastitis prevalence
decreased with increase in farming duration. A significant
mastitis prevalence increase was also recorded in herds housed
under poor stable drainage conditions and in herds where
mastitic cows were not milked at last. Poor body condition
score and cows that have had mastitis previously were also
observed as risk factors for mastitis with a significant
influence.

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MASTITIS IN SMALLHOLDER DAIRY FARMS IN ADAMA 577

Observation Clinical Mastitis Sub-clinical Mastitis Over all prevalence

No +ve cases No (%) No +ve cases No (%) (%)
Herd level 95 13(13.7) 95 58(61.1) 59 (62.1)
Cow level 206 13(6.3) 193 86(44.6) 99 (48.1)
Quarter level 794 19(2.4) 775 176(22.7) 195 (24.6)

TABLE IIA: Prevalence of clinical and sub clinical mastitis in market oriented smallholder dairy farms in Adama district, Ethiopia.

Variable and Quarters Blind/mastitic % df 2 P

category examined vlue
Blind quarters
Right fore 206 6 2.91 3 14.3 0.002
Left fore 206 6 2.91
Right hind 206 16 7.77
Left hind 206 2 0.97
Mastitic Quarters
Right fore 200 48 24 3 0.03 0.86
Left fore 200 53 26.5
Right hind 190 50 26.3
Left hind 204 44 21.6

TABLE IIB: Quarter level distribution of blindness and mastitis in market oriented smallholder dairy farms in Adama district, Ethiopia.

Bacterial Frequency Percentage role women play in dairying in the study area. The average
isolates herd size of 5.2 animals, of which 2.2 milking cows is com-
parable to the report of MEKONNEN et al. [11] for
Streptococcus agalactiae 11 11.6
Debrezeit area. Keeping dairy animals in permanent houses,
Streptococcus dysgalactiae 6 6.4 stall feeding and procuring feed through purchase by almost
Streptococcus uberis 3 3.3 all smallholders are characteristic features of urban and peri-
Enterococcus faecalis 10 10.6 urban smallholder dairy farming and in agreement with other
Staphylococcus aureus 14 14.7 reports [11].
CNS* 20 21.2
The overall prevalence of mastitis at herd (61.2%), cow
Micrococcus species 15 15.9 (48%) and quarter (23.7%) levels obtained in the present
Escherichia coli 7 7.5 study was high. The cow level prevalence was higher than
Serratia marcescens 4 4.2 the 32.6% prevalence in Sellale area Ethiopia [5] and 42.2%
Arcanobacterium pyogenes 3 3.3 prevalence reported by HAROUNA et al [6] for Hamdallaye
Bacillus cereus 2 2.2 dairy cattle in Niger. The findings of the present study regar-
Total 95 100% ding cow level prevalence of clinical mastitis (6.3%) and sub
clinical mastitis (44.6%) were higher than those of ALMAW,
CNS*- coagulase negative staphylococci
et al. [2] who reported 3.9 % for clinical mastitis and 34.4%
for subclinical mastitis in smallholder dairy farms in and
around Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. The quarter level prevalence is
TABLE III: Frequency distribution of bacterial isolates from mastitic
cows fore milk samples in market oriented smallholder dairy farms also much higher than what was reported for Sellale,
in Adama district, Ethiopia. Ethiopia area [5]. These differences are most likely due to
individual herd factors that considerably influence mastitis
prevalence. On the other hand WORKINEH et al. [22] reported
21.5% and 38.2% prevalence respectively for clinical and
Discussion sub-clinical mastitis in two major Ethiopian dairies that illus-
trate the magnitude of mastitis problem in both smallholder
The proportion of women headed farms (58.9%) observed and large dairy herds. Prevalence of clinical and subclinical
in the present study was higher than previous reports made by mastitis didnt show significant difference between the four
MEKONNEN et al. [11] for Debrezeit (38%) and MEKONNEN quarters and this result differs from that of KHAN and
et al. [12] for Dejen (20%) areas that shows the important MUHAMMAD [8] for crossbred cows and buffalos in Pakistan.

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578 MEKONNEN (H.) AND TESFAYE (A.)

Factor Cow number Odds ratio P-value CI (95%)

and category lower Upper
Age (years)
2.5-5 61 0.99 0.32 0.46 2.55
6-8 94 0.13 0.72 0.46 2.33
9 51 2.38 0.31
Parity
1st 46 1.8 0.18 0.77 3.9
2nd 43 3.89 0.05 1.01 5.57
3rd 53 1.93 0.17 0.79 3.87
4 64 4.28 0.23
Body condition score*
<2 9 6.29 0.04 0.01 0.9
3 138 0.47 0.94 0.53 1.8
>4 59 6.27 0.53
PMP 80 5.11 0.05 1.1 1.32
Non PMP 126
*: Body condition score on a scale of 1-5; PMP: previous mastitis problem

TABLE IV: Association between clinical mastitis and potential risk factors in Adama district, Ethiopia.

The latter reported higher prevalence in hindquarters than
forequarters and among the hindquarters, more susceptibility
of the left hindquarters than the right. This might simply suggest
that the relationship between quarter position and mastitis
prevalence is not straight forward but influenced by other
factors like breed (udder size) and management. However in
the present study, significantly higher proportion of blind
quarters were observed in the hindquarters.
In this study, contagious microorganisms (CNS, S. aureus,
Str. agalactiae, S. dysgalactiae) with a predominance of CNS
caused most of the infections. This result agrees with the
reports of ALMAW et al. [2] for Bahirdar area, Ethiopia
where CNS, S. aureus and Str. agalactiae were reported as
the most frequently isolated organisms in decreasing order of
importance. Other previous reports show S. aureus as the
most predominant pathogen [5, 22]. RIEKERINK et al. [19]
indicated that there could be substantial geographic variation
in the distribution of mastitis causing bacteria. Contagious
mastitis prevalence is considerably influenced by the milking
procedures followed by milkers. Thus correct milking pro-
cedures such as milking mastitic cows at last and proper
sanitation of utensils, milkers hand and udder before mil-
king could help to improve the situation.The frequency of
isolation of coliforms (Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faeca-
lis) and other environmental mastitis causing organisms
was also quite high. It is known that unhygienic housing
conditions strongly influence the prevalence of environmental
mastitis that can produce life threatening illness [4]. Or in the
present study the majority of the cow barns (70%) had poor
drainage conditions.
The prevalence of mastitis was found to be significantly
higher in smallholders where dairying is a secondary activi-
ty and in farms with less then 4 years duration. The higher
prevalence in recently established smallholder farms might
be partly attributed to the sources of the foundation herds
that were other smallholders in the vicinity. The majority of
smallholders sell their animals due to mastitis or other health
problems. Thus, many purchased starter or replacement ani-
mals were, most probably, infected. The higher prevalence in
farms where dairying is a sideline activity could also be
explained form the reduced level of attention paid to dai-
rying. The significant association obtained between mastitis
prevalence and stage of milking mastitic cow is in contrast
with a report made by GETAHUN et al. [5] who indicated no
significant effect of stage of milking mastitic cow on mastitis
prevalence. Poor body condition increased the risk of mastitis.
This result is consistent with previous reports [7, 13]. Among
the risk factors considered the odds of occurrence of mastitis
was five times more likely in cows with previous mastitis
history compared to their healthy herd-mates.
Conclusion
Relatively high mastitis prevalence was revealed in this
study. CNS, S. aureus, Str. agalactiae, Enterococcus faecalis
and Micrococcus species caused most of the infections.
Managing dairy farms as sideline activity, duration of far-
ming, barn hygienic condition, stage of milking mastitic
cow, body condition score and previous mastitis history were
found to be risk factors significantly related to mastitis pre-
valence. Determination of mastitis causing organisms and
associated risk factors has significant importance both for the
choice of treatment of the affected animals as well as for
devising effective measures against risk factors.
Acknowledgement
We acknowledge the co-operation received from smallholder
dairy farmers.

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MASTITIS IN SMALLHOLDER DAIRY FARMS IN ADAMA
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