New Mexico Livestock Board
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Back to Animal Health Regulatory Programs
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Practices |
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There are
some practices that dairypersons can adopt to help reduce the
incidence of spread. Note the following information provided by
BAMN, AFIS.
Test all colostrum before feeding and use only good quality colostrum. Avoid contamination of colostrum at time of collection. Udders and teats should be cleansed just as you would prepare the cow for saleable milk. Colostrum should be fed as soon as possible after birth (within 1 hour) since the colostrum itself is not sterile. Bacteria in the colostrum will begin to grow quickly and can increase tremendously within a few hours of collection. Colostrum may transmit several important diseases, including Johne’s disease. For this reason, colostrum from cows that are known carriers or suspected of being carriers for specific diseases should never be fed to newborn calves. In addition, colostrum should not be pooled among cows - colostrum from an infected cow, once pooled, may infect many calves. Although pasteurization of colostrum reduces bacterial concentration, it is important to remember that pasteurization only decreases the number of bacteria in colostrum – it does not sterilize it. The time and temperature standards typically used for pasteurizing milk do not apply to colostrum and are not practical for an on-farm pasteurizer. Finally, batch pasteurization usually destroys most of the antibodies in colostrum, and therefore, is not recommended. |
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For
additional help and information, click
nm.livestock@state.nm.us |
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