New tools for improved mastitis management

For decades, Somatic cell count (SCC) has been used as the key indicator in mastitis screening programs typically applied in the frame of Dairy Herd Improvement (DHI) testing programs. But mastitis is still the costliest disease in global milk production today, in particular in its subclinical form which can go unnoticed and cause significant economic loss.

In recent years, the introduction of a new generation of milk analysers offering rapid and simultaneous determination of SCC and a new parameter, differential somatic cell count (DSCC), has opened up the possibility of new mastitis testing options that help veterinarians and dairy farmers to safeguard udder health in individual cows and prevent mastitis from spreading within herds.

The combination of SCC and DSCC provides more precise information on the actual inflammatory status of the mammary gland, thus enabling early detection and more effective control of the disease and subsequently resulting in economic profit for dairy farmers.

Further reads

For further insight into this topic, browse this section of scientific articles and papers. 

SCC and DSCC-based udder health groups provide valuable and additional information about the future udder health status of dairy cows 
This article looks into the added value of working with the combination of SCC and DSCC as compared to SCC alone. Read more about the DSCC-based udder health group concept and association with the future development of cows. 

Introduction of SCC and DSCC-based udder health group concept and investigation of its associations with dairy cow performance
This article is the result of close collaboration with milk-testing laboratories and organisations from 5 different countries. Learn more about the DSCC-based udder health group concept and how the performance of dairy cows varies in each of the four udder health groups. 

Test characteristics of SCC and DSCC 
The results of our collaboration on DSCC with Lactanet (former Valacta), Canada, have just been published as a scientific article. The article describes the test characteristics of working with SCC and DSCC compared to working with SCC only. Read about the conclusions of the first ever study evaluating the combined use of DSCC and SCC compared to SCC alone.  

Differential somatic cell count—A novel method for routine mastitis screening in the frame of Dairy Herd Improvement testing programs
This scientific article provides a study of the FOSS DSCC method for routine analysis of both DSCC and SCC using untreated individual cow milk samples. Learn more about the value of the new method for CMT laboratories benefitting from added information about the prevalence of mastitis in herds and thus allowing improved mastitis screening within the frame of DHI testing programs.