Individual Tests
Blood Agars: The basic culture is done to identify organisms casuing mastitis. Thses include staph species, staph aureus, strep species, and various coliforms. Blood agar cultures are completed in 24-48 hours.
Mycoplasma: The unique bacteria which can cause very contagious mastitis. It requires a special media and environment for culture. Curltures are read with a dissecting mircroscope at 3 days and again at 7 days.
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Sampling Techniques
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Mastitis Organism fact sheets
Bulk Tank Tests
Blood Agar: same as individual, but Bulk Tank Cultures require a larger quanitity of sample is cultured and additional speciation is performed.
Mycoplasma: same as individual, but larger quantity of sample used
Interpreation of Results - Blood Agars and Mycoplasma Agars
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Result
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Interpretation
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+
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light growth (1-2 colonies)
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++
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moderate growth (3-30 colonies)
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+++
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heavy growth (greater than 30 colonies)
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++++
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confluent growth - used only in mycoplasma cultures
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NG
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no significant growth
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C
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multi-species heavy growth
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consult veterinarian about treatment options and management decisions
Bulk Tank Series
Standard Plate Count (SPC): A quantitative count of the total aerobic bacteria present in a sample. A 48 hour culture.
Lab Pasturized Count (LPC): A quantitative count of the heat tolerant bacteria present in a sample. These organisms are elevated in number when cleaning systems/procedures are not adequate. A 48 hour culture.
Coliform Count (Coli): A quantitative count of all coliform (lactose fermenting /gram negative) bacteria in a sample. A 24 hour culture
Interpretation of Results - Bulk Tank Series
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Test
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Excellent
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Good
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SPC
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<100 - 5000
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5000 - 10,000
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LPC
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<10 - 50
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50 - 100
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Coli
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<10 - 50
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50 - 100
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Sampling Techniques
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Bulk Tank Series Organism Fact Sheet
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