Bacteriophages and their Endolysin: An Alternative Therapeutic Approach for Bovine Mastitis

Abstract

Mastitis is one of the most prevalent and serious disease in bovines and led to high economic loss in the dairy industry. Mastitis dramatically reduces the reproduction abilities of cows. Despite significant progress in controlling and treating this disease, it is still frequent. Mastitis risks public health if milk from treated animals is taken by humans. Multiple factors are responsible for this disease, but bacterial mastitis is the most prevalent and threatening. The emergence of drug-resistant bacterial strains makes mastitis untreatable. Misuse of antibiotics in animal therapy is responsible for this issue, which resulted in the creation of strains that are multidrug resistant. This antibiotic resistance among bacteria is alarming. There is a need for an alternative treatment to cure mastitis. Bacteriophages are viruses, which kill bacteria. The effectiveness of bacteriophages and their endolysin against different bacterial infections causing mastitis has been approved from the results of various studies. Phage therapy is used as both a treatment and preventive measure.