Associations between specific S. aureus spa types and host responses in Thai Goats

Abstract

The aim of this study was to receive more knowledge about mastitis in Thai goats with the focus on Staphylococcus aureus. Very little is known about mastitis in Thai goats and the pathogens causing the inflammation of the udder. Although S. aureus is known as a pathogen which frequently causes subclinical intramammary infection (IMI), the clinical variant caused by this particular bacteria often leads to severe sickness with loss of the udder and/or death of the goat. Different factors were studied for their association with the presence of S. aureus, namely the breed, parity, stage of lactation, (sub)clinical state and the California Mastitis Test (CMT) score using chi-squared tests and logistic regression. In 158 samples, 54.4% subclinical cases (based on CMT score) and 3,8% clinical cases were found. A prevalence of 18% S. aureus was found. A high CMT score and Saanen breed were significantly associated with the presence of S. aureus. No association was found between different SpA types and the (sub)clinical state of the infected animal. The most important conclusion for this research is the high prevalence of S. aureus among the tested goats in Thailand and the fact that there was no specific SpA type found related to the clinical state of the goat. Therefore the advice for Thai farmers is to improve their husbandry conditions and milking management with the focus on hygiene to reduce the prevalence of subclinical IMI in their goats which should also reduce the clinical cases.