Abstract
Mastitis is considered the most common and problematic disease, resulting in significant economic losses due to reduced milk yields, reduced quantity and quality of milk, treatment costs, and premature culling of animals. One of the traditional methods of treating mastitis in cows is using antibiotics, which leads to the emergence of polyresistant strains of microorganisms, the so-called Superbugs. The emergence of Superbugs, which are not sensitive to most existing antibiotics, is a major concern in veterinary and humane medicine. This study aimed to identify pathogens isolated from the secretion of the mammary gland of cows with mastitis to determine their spread and sensitivity to antibiotics. The samples of secretion from the udder were examined by bacteriological method. The isolates were identified by conventional methods and by the modern method – mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). The sensitivity of the bacterial isolates to antibiotics was determined by the disc diffusion method (Kirby-Bauer). The results of studies of cow mammary gland secretion samples indicate that 49.2% of the isolates are contagious, and 50.8% are environmental ones. The most common among the isolates of mastitis-causing pathogens were Streptoccocus аgalactiae – 16.9%, Streptococcus uberis – 10.9%, Staphylococcus aureus – 10.7%, E. Coli – 9.6%, Corynebacterium bovis – 7.3%, Staphylococcus haemolyticus – 4.8%, Staphylococcus chromogenes – 3.6%, Streptococcus dysgalactiae – 3.4%. Mastitis is caused by algae and yeast – 1% of all detected pathogens, respectively. According to the results of the determination of the sensitivity of isolates of mastitis-causing pathogens to antibiotics, it was found that most isolates were sensitive to Amoxicillin, Ceftiofur, and Rifampicin, and least of them – to Neomycin, Tylosin, Tilmicosin, Bacitracin.