PENICILLIN FOR MASTITIS

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25554, 23 July 1948, Page 8

PENICILLIN FOR MASTITIS

TREATMENT OF COWS It was expected that supplies of penicillin cerate for the treatment of mastitis in cows would be available from veterinary surgeons and pharmaceutical chemists towards tne end of this month, said Mr H. Doyle, livestock superintendent for the Department of Agriculture in Christchurch, yesterday. Mr Doyle said that farmers could purchase the penicillin only on production of a veterinarian’s prescription. The drug would be available at a price which would make its use an economic proposition. It was put up in tubes, each containing 25,000 units of penicillin. Three of the tubes were necessary for a complete treatment, and farmers were strongly advised not to discontinue treatment after only one tube had been given, even if the diseased condition appeared to have been relieved. The streptococcal type of mastitis would respond better to penicillin than the staphylococcal, but most cases reported were streptococcal. In cases where there was no response to the treatment, farmers were advised to obtain the services of a veterinarian. The losses from mastitis so far had been very great, Mr Doyle continued. It was one of the chief factors necessitating culling in dairy herds. Demonstrations of the penicillin method of treatment had already been given in a number of Canterbury districts, and others would be arranged later. The penicillin was being packed in New Zealand from imported supplies.