Compared to other countries, very little data is currently available concerning the diversity, epidemiology and virulence potential of bacteria responsible for causing mastitis in South African dairy herds. To begin addressing the current knowledge gap, the Allerton Provincial Veterinary Laboratory (PVL) in Pietermaritzburg initiated a number of research activities. The work, done in collaboration with researchers from the University of Pretoria, commenced in 2013. The aims of the main research theme include:
• investigating the diversity of Staphylococcus species in dairy herds in KwaZulu-Natal
• evaluating the susceptibility of isolates to a panel of clinically relevant antimicrobials
• screening isolates for specific virulence markers, and
• genotypic characterisation of S. aureus isolates.
The initial findings of this project were recently been published in the Journal of Dairy Science.
Schmidt, Kock and Ehlers, 2015 “Diversity and antimicrobial susceptibility profiling of staphylococci isolated from bovine mastitis cases and close human contacts” Journal of Dairy Science 98(9):6256-6269.
Published on Monday, 19th October 2015 - 10:42
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