Investigation of efficacy of intramammary administration of ceftiofur Assaf ewes

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effects of intramammary administration of ceftiofur at dry off on somatic cell count (SCC), incidences of subclinical and clinical mastitis and milk yield at following lactation in Assaf breed ewes. This study was conducted on 1-2 years old, lactating Assaf breed ewes (n=60) at first lactation at dry off. During drying, the sheep were randomly divided into Full Dose (n=20), Half Dose (n=20) and Control (n=20) groups, and all of the dry period intramammary tubes (Spectramast DC Zoetis Animal Health Ltd. Şti., 10 ml) containing 500 mg ceftiofur hydrochloride were applied to both udders of the sheep in the Full Dose group, and 500 mg ceftiofur was applied to both udders of the sheep in the Half dose group. A half dose (5 ml; 250 mg ceftiofur hydrochloride) was administered through dry period intramammary tubes containing hydrochloride. No application was made to the sheep in the control group. Milk samples were taken from both mammary lobes of the ewes in subgroups (n=10) in each study group for SCC during drying and on postpartum days 25 +/-5. Antibiogram tests were also performed on milk samples taken from both mammary lobes of ewes in each subgroup (n=4) during drying. From the antibiogram analyzes performed for fourteen different antibiotics, the antibiotic resistance rate of Ceftiofur was found to be 62.5% (5/24). In the lactation following the dry period antibiotic treatment, clinical mastitis was detected in 5% (1/20) of the Full Dose group, 20% (4/20) of the Half Dose group, and 15% (3/20) of clinical mastitis was detected in a total of 3 sheep, including 1 sheep from the Control group that died. A statistical difference was determined between the Full Dose (25%; 5/20), Half Dose (33.3%; 6/18) and Control (40%; 8/20) groups in terms of subclinical mastitis incidence. Although SCC (Full Dose: 89,000; Half Dose: 68,000; Control 210,000) was numerically low, no statistically positive effect was achieved. However, after intramammary ceftiofur application in the brest lobules with subclinical mastitis according to SCC (>=1 X 106/ml) during drying statistically (P<0,05) more improvement was observed in the Half Dose group (9/14) and numerically in the Full Dose group (5/8) inthe folloving lactation. A 45% (5/11) improvement was observed in the control group. No statistical difference was found between the study groups (Full Dose [n=17; 42.0 ± 5.6 L], Half Dose [n=20; 41.7 ± 3.0 L] and Control [n=18; 39.6 ± 3.4 L]) in terms of milk yield in the first 27 days of lactation. As a result, with the use of intramammary antibiotics in the dry period treatment of Assaf breed sheep, the number of somatic cells in milk was partially reduced and subclinical mastitis treatment was provided