RESUMO: O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a eficácia da antibioticoterapia associada à vacinação sobre a taxa de cura microbiológica de mastite subclínica causada por Staphylococcus aureus em vacas leiteiras em lactação. Foram selecionados 5 rebanhos, dos quais 72 vacas (120 quartos mamários, QM) foram diagnosticadas com mastite subclínica por S. aureus e foram alocadas aleatoriamente em um de três grupos de tratamento: a) Controle (sem tratamento); b) ATB (antibioticoterapia); e c) ATB+VAC (antibioticoterapia mais vacinação contra S. aureus). O tratamento intramamário consistiu em infusão de ampicilina 75 mg + cloxacilina 200 mg duas vezes ao dia, durante 5 dias. O tratamento parenteral foi feito por injeção de uma dose única (7,5 mg/kg) de enrofloxacina, no primeiro dia do protocolo de tratamento. As vacas vacinadas receberam três doses de uma vacina comercial, 14 dias antes do tratamento (d-14), no primeiro dia do protocolo de tratamento (d1) e 14 dias após o protocolo de tratamento (d+14). A taxa de cura das vacas não tratadas foi menor (0,06) do que das vacas tratadas com ATB (0,84) e ATB+VAC (0,85). Não foi observada diferença de taxa de cura entre vacas tratadas com ATB e ATB+VAC. Por outro lado, as vacas vacinadas apresentaram menor a contagem de células somáticas (CCS) após 28 dias de tratamento (4,76 log10) do que em vacas não tratadas (5,37 log10). Em conclusão, o tratamento com ampicilina e cloxacilina intramamária, associados à enrofloxacina intramuscular, apresentou alta taxa de cura para MSC causada por S. aureus durante a lactação. A utilização da vacinação contra S. aureus associada à antibioticoterapia não aumentou a taxa de cura dos QM durante a lactação, mas foi eficaz na redução do CCS quando comparada à QM não tratados. Entretanto, para ter certeza que a diminuição da CCS no grupo ATB+VAC estivesse associada à vacinação, o estudo deveria ter incluído um grupo adicional de apenas vacas vacinadas, sem terapia antimicrobiana, o que não foi feito no presente estudo e, portanto, é um das limitações do protocolo experimental utilizado.

ABSTRACT: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the antibiotic therapy associated with vaccination on the microbiological cure rate of subclinical mastitis caused by Staphylococcus aureus in lactating dairy cows. A total of five herds, from which 72 cows (120 mammary quarters - MQ) were diagnosed with S. aureus subclinical mastitis, were included in this study. Cows were randomly allocated to one of three treatment groups: a) Control (no treatment); b) ATB (antibiotic therapy); and c) ATB+VAC (antibiotic therapy plus vaccination against S. aureus). Intramammary treatment consisted of twice-daily infusion of ampicillin 75mg + cloxacillin 200mg, for 5 days. Parenteral treatment was done by injection of a single dose (7.5mg/kg) of enrofloxacin, on the first day of the treatment protocol. Vaccinated cows received three doses of a commercial vaccine 14 days before treatment (d-14), on the first day of treatment protocol (d1), and 14 days after the treatment protocol (d+14). Non-treated cows had a lower cure rate (0.06) than cows treated with ATB (0.84) and ATB+VAC (0.85). No difference in cure rate was observed between cows treated with ATB and ATB+VAC. On the other hand, vaccinated cows had lower somatic cell count (SCC) after 28 days of the treatment protocols (4.76 log10) than non-treated cows (5.37 log10). In conclusion, treatment with intramammary ampicillin and cloxacillin, associated with intramuscular enrofloxacin presented a high cure rate for SCM caused by S. aureus during lactation. The use of vaccination against S. aureus in association with antibiotic therapy did not increase the cure rate of MQ during lactation, but it was effective in reducing the SCC when compared to non-treated MQ. Although to ensure that the decrease of the SCC in ATB+VAC group was associated with the vaccination, the study should have included an additional group of only vaccinated cows, without antimicrobial therapy, with was not done in the present study, and therefore is one of the limitations of the experimental protocol used.

ABSTRACT The present study aimed to compare two MALDI-TOF identification methods [(a) direct sample identification after pre-incubation; or (b) use of bacteria isolated on pre-culture)] to standard, traditional bench microbiology. A total of 120 quarter milk samples from 40 Holstein lactating cows were screened based on culture-positive results obtained by microbiological culture (reference method) with the following numbers of quarters positive per cow: 4 cows with 1, 8 cows with 2, 12 cows with 3 and 16 cows with 4 infected quarters per cow. For direct identification method, quarter milk samples (n = 120) were skimmed by centrifugation (10,000 × g/10 min) and pre-incubated at 37 ºC for 12 h. After pre-incubation, quarter milk samples were submitted to total bacterial count by flow cytometry and for a preparation protocol for bacterial ribosomal protein extraction followed by MALDI-TOF MS analysis. The direct MALDI-TOF MS identification method compared to microbiological culture correctly identified isolates of coagulase-negative Staphylococci (27.2%), Streptococcus agalactiae (21.8%), Staphylococcus aureus (14.2%), and Streptococcus uberis (5.2%). The pre-incubation protocol of milk samples, associated to the direct identification method by MALDI-TOF MS, did not increase the identification at species level (score >2.0) of pathogens causing subclinical mastitis in comparison to the method without previous incubation.