dairy cattle | OZOLEA

OZOLEA at World Dairy Expo 2022 in Madison: come and visit us!

Marketing 22 September 2022 News

In the upcoming days, the OZOLEA team will fly the Atlantic Ocean to exhibit at the most global event for the dairy industry in the United States: World Dairy Expo 2022.

OZOLEA have been present in the US market with their leading product, OZOLEA-MAST, since 2020. Their presence there is progressively increasing, along with the trust placed in us by US dairy farmers.

Why come and visit us?

OZOLEA-MAST is a no-withdrawal animal device for intra-mammary use in dairy cows. It exploits an innovative approach for udder issue management, consisting of supporting and protecting the udder tissue and allowing it to regenerate autonomously. While farmers treat cows with OZOLEA-MAST, they can continue shipping the milk as it is a no-withdrawal product and reduce antibiotic usage during lactation and at dry-off.

Meeting OZOLEA at World Dairy Expo 2022 is your great opportunity to find out more about OZOLEA-MAST by:

exchanges of views at our booth at the Trade Show;
attending our seminar, which will focus on field data assessed by US and Italian experts to fully understand the benefits of OZOLEA-MAST in terms of somatic cell count during lactation and at dry-off.

Find below all information about OZOLEA at World Dairy Expo 2022!

OZOLEA at the Trade Show

OZOLEA will welcome you at

BOOTH AL 110
Coliseum – Arena Level
Alliant Energy Center
Madison WI

How to find us at Expo: https://bit.ly/3BxFui7

You can attend the Trade Show during the following opening hours:

Oct. 4-6 9 AM – 5 PM
Oct. 7 9 AM – 4 PM

Our seminar at World Dairy Expo

Effects of a no-withdrawal non-antibiotic strategy on somatic cell count during lactation and at dry-off

Oct. 5 11 AM

Monona & Wingra
Alliant Energy Center
Madison (WI)

OZOLEA will present field data for the use of their non-antibiotic and no-withdrawal animal device, OZOLEA-MAST, when used in lactation and for drying-off dairy cows, respectively. This tool, along with efficient herd management, can positively affect the individual somatic cell count, while contributing to reduce antibiotic usage on dairy farms.

Speakers

Bradley J. Heins
Extension Specialist, Dairy Management
Professor, Dairy Management, University of Minnesota

Fausto Cremonesi
DVM
Professor, Department of Veterinary Medicine (DiMeVet), University of Milan

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Defense barriers and mechanisms against uterine infections

Marketing 4 May 2022 News

Calving generally occurs in non-sterile environments: this means that almost all dairy cows are contaminated during parturition; however, contamination does not automatically turn into uterine infection.

As we highlighted in a recent focus¹, calving implies significant physiological and metabolic changes. As a result, the immune system is more susceptible. The cow’s immune system and response, in addition to the pathogen strain, will markedly influence the outcome of potential infections.

A healthy cow has a strong, well-regulated immune response that can resolve bacterial contamination. How can a resilient dairy cow prevent post-partum uterine infections?

Sheldon and colleagues² suggest that resilient cows can prevent the development of uterine diseases through three integrated and complementary defense strategies: avoiding, tolerating and resisting pathogen infection.

Avoidance strategies limit the exposure to pathogens without direct metabolic costs. Examples are physical barriers (vulva, vagina, cervix, cervical mucus) that hinder the ascending bacteria through the vaginal tract. Intrinsic behaviours such as maintaining hygiene have a great impact on avoiding infection. As an example, cows generally prefer dry and clean bedding and try to avoid dirt and wet.

Tolerance implies strategies aimed at limiting damages caused by pathogens, thus tissue protection from toxins and repairing damage. Tolerance strategies include functional barriers to infection, neutralizing bacterial toxins, repairing tissue damage, and adaptive metabolic responses. These mechanisms are not always passive as they are sometimes integrated with resistance strategies.

Repair and regeneration occur at endometrium level in post-partum to manage damage due to parturition. This is critical as epithelial and tissue damage is a need for bacteria to generate the infection. These processes are energy demanding; unfortunately, in the first period of lactation, dairy cows often struggle to meet metabolic requirements for milk production: attention to their diet and feed intake represent a key point for health management.

Finally, resistance strategies limit the number of pathogens through the activation of innate and adaptive immunity.

Innate immunity generates a non-specific and immediate response to pathogens, which does not depend on previous exposure to bacteria. It leads to an inflammatory response, generally regulated to meet the proportional need of intervention on the level of pathogens and the damage. It is mainly responsible for the removal of uterine contamination in postpartum. Moreover, it consists of anatomic, physiological, inflammatory, and phagocytic barriers.

Adaptive immunity relies on previous exposure to specific antigens and needs more time to develop. In post-partum, it is evident with lymphocytic foci of T and B cells in the endometrium. However, it is not long-lived in the uterus.

When the inflammatory response is rapid and strong, there is efficient control of pathogens. The combination of good herd management practices to the cow’s intrinsic competence can really make the difference to reduce the occurrence of uterine infections and diseases in dairy cows.

Once we have set up the best conditions for animal welfare and health, however we still have to deal with minor uterine issues, the answer may be found in innovative non-drug veterinary devices aimed at the protection and support of the endometrium functionality. The answer is OZOLEA-METR.

OZOLEA-METR can be used in late post-partum, when uterine involution is almost complete, there are no clear symptoms of metritis, however abnormal non-severe vaginal discharge may be visible, or after insemination in repeat breeders.

Once applied into the uterus, OZOLEA-METR forms a physical film barrier that creates a non-ideal environment for bacteria, thus slowing down the aggressiveness of a possible bacteria attack and giving time to the tissue to autonomously regenerate. In post insemination, it creates the proper environmental conditions for embryo implantation.

At OZOLEA, we firmly believe in the ability of animals to defend themselves autonomously against infections. For this reason, we designed the way to support the first line defense barriers in their regeneration process with the unique aim of putting nature against nature.

References

¹ Reducing metritis occurrence in dairy cows.

https://www.ozolea.it/reducing-metritis-occurrence-in-dairy-cows/

² I. M. Sheldon, P. C. C. Molinari, T. J R Ormsby, J. J. Bromfield, 2020. Preventing postpartum uterine disease in dairy cattle depends on avoiding, tolerating and resisting pathogenic bacteria.

doi: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2020.01.017

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Improve SCCs in your dairy cows to extend longevity

Marketing 5 January 2022 News

Dairy cow longevity influences the economic performance of dairy farms and the environmental footprint of the milk industry. Moreover, it is closely linked to animal welfare: for this reason, the main goal on farms should be longer cow longevity is desirable, aiming at the achievement of dairy sustainability.

Cow longevity is the length of life of the cow determined by either culling decision made by the farmer or death of the animal. Farmers are influenced in the culling decision making process by economic aspects and the need of achieving expected production levels, along with regular reproductive activity and good health status.

Culling is voluntary when the fertile and healthy cow is removed from the herd due to low milk yields produced. Involuntary culling occurs for many reasons, among which we have infertility, udder health and leg issues.

In particular, chronically high somatic cell count¹ levels and mastitis are two of the main causes of involuntary culling. However, through improved and efficient management, this issue, which also affects profitability and milk production, can be tackled.

Let’s have a look at some nice data from scientific literature on the impact of somatic cell count on involuntary culling – and, thus, on dairy cow longevity.

Caraviello and colleagues (2005)² evaluated the impact of SCC on involuntary culling rates of US Holstein and Jersey cows with first calvings (data collected from 1990 to 2000). The authors found that, in the case of Holstein cows, the risk of culling was higher in animals with lactation average SCC levels > 700,000 cells/ml with respect to Holstein cows with SCC of 200,000 to 250,000 cells/mL in herds with low, medium, or high average somatic cell count levels.

In another work, Sewalem et al. (2006)³ assessed the level of SCC and explored the impact of somatic cell score (SCS) on the functional longevity (defined as the number of days from the first calving to removal from herds) of Canadian dairy cattle. The authors observed that, as the SCS increased beyond the average detected for the three breeds assessed (Holstein, Ayrshire, Jersey), the relative risk of culling increased noticeably.

How to reduce the impact of culling, particularly when involuntary, on longevity and boost milk production?

The key points are herd management and animal welfare: anything that will benefit cows in terms of animal health and welfare must be improved.

Dealing with chronically high somatic cell counts is hard work: OZOLEA considered this while developing OZOLEA-MAST, the non-pharmaceutical veterinary device for intra-mammary use in dairy cows, in lactation and at dry-off.

Before deciding to cull a cow due to chronically high somatic cell counts, a dairy farmer could give OZOLEA-MAST a try.

Depending on the causes leading to high SCCs, OZOLEA-MAST allows the mammary tissue to autonomously regenerate, thus improving udder functionality. The result of tissue regeneration is a reduction in epithelial flaking (flaking cells) and a better defensive action against pathogens. This is due to better performance of the improved tissue condition.

To support the efficacy of OZOLEA-MAST at its best, OZOLEA provides dairy farmers with the right protocol in this situation (Protocol M3 – Udder, lactation: chronically high somatic cell count). In this case, the SCC will not dramatically drop below the expected value.

Depending on the initial value, the SCC will gradually decrease over time. Thus, repeating the protocol twice would help further reduce SCC, while continuing shipping the milk.

OZOLEA-MAST was designed to be applied along with improved management practices for a prompt use: this is how it can help you reduce the occurrence of mastitis in your dairy herd, thus reducing culling rates.

¹ Dealing with chronically high SCCs in dairy cows.

https://www.ozolea.it/dealing-with-chronically-high-sccs-in-dairy-cows/

² D. Z. Caraviello, K. A. Weigel, G. E. Shook, P. L. Ruegg . Assessment of the Impact of Somatic Cell Count on Functional Longevity in Holstein and Jersey Cattle Using Survival Analysis Methodology. Journal of Dairy Science, Volume 88, Issue 2, February 2005, Pages 804-811

https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(05)72745-4

³ A. Sewalem, F. Miglior, G. J. Kistemaker, B. J. Van Doormaal . Analysis of the Relationship Between Somatic Cell Score and Functional Longevity in Canadian Dairy Cattle. Journal of Dairy Science Volume 89, Issue 9, September 2006, Pages 3609-3614

https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(06)72400-6

Dallago, G.M.; Wade, K.M.;Cue, R.I.; McClure, J.T.; Lacroix, R.;Pellerin, D.; Vasseur, E. Keeping Dairy Cows for Longer: A Critical Literature Review on Dairy Cow Longevity in High Milk Producing Countries. Animals 2021, 11, 808. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11030808

Cover image: Ph. Veronica White, available here.

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The action against AMR has an ethical, socio-economic, scientific and environmental scope

Marketing 12 August 2021 News

We said many times that tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the highest goal of the new VMP Regulation¹.

This new law is just one of the several actions taken by the European Union against this challenge. AMR could detrimentally lead to ethical, socio-economic, scientific and environmental negative effects for humanity. Thus, it deserves an ethical, socio-economic, scientific and environmental answer.

AMR is, first of all, a health issue, carrying around a serious social and economic burden. The estimation of its impact in the EU alone is 25,000 deaths per year. What would happen if no actions were taken? Millions of deaths are estimated globally, more than what cancer could do by 2050².

The social and economic burden has also been estimated. First, costs associated with healthcare would increase. Second, with a population suffering from infections caused by resistant bacteria, productivity would be hardly compromised.

An idea in figures? EUR 1.5 billion annually in healthcare costs and productivity losses as a consequence of AMR in the EU alone.

At the same time, the research, development, manufacture and marketing of new antimicrobial products has substantially slowed down in the last two decades.

Tackling AMR through effective and alternative strategies and tools will mitigate its detrimental impact on European society, contributing to economic growth and also reducing environmental pressure. In the past months, we deeply explored this issue from a dairy farming point of view^{3, 4, 5}.

Effective biosecurity strategies represent also an extra certainty for food security.

Efficiency and management, along with innovation, is all we can do, as dairy farmers, to help in the process of reversing AMR development.

The harmonization process, started with the new VMP Regulation and that will be possible through the implementation of a One-Health approach, means an EU answer to this big challenge. In addition, the fact that AMR has an international dimension makes this approach really necessary.

This is where the action against AMR has an ethical, socio-economic, scientific and environmental scope.

OZOLEA was founded in 2016, immediately after the 2015 WHO Global Action Plan on AMR. Since the beginning, its mission has been that of standing at the forefront of this fight, side by side with dairy farmers.

As a business activity and project, OZOLEA wants to spread all the best practices for udder and uterus issue management for dairy farming. For this reason, we have been disseminating the key aspects behind the new VMP Regulation: knowledge is the first tool to face this big challenge.

What is next? Finding and providing dairy farmers with all the possible strategies to accelerate the pace towards the compliance with new rules, always aiming at profit improvement.

¹ Reg. (EU) 2019/6 on veterinary medicines applicable from 28 January 2022: are we ready?

https://www.ozolea.it/reg-eu-20196-on-veterinary-medicines-applicable-from-28-january-2022-are-we-ready/

² COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT. A European One Health Action Plan against Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52017DC0339&from=IT

³ Making money by saving milk.

https://www.ozolea.it/making-money-by-saving-milk/

⁴ A more valuable manure for better crop productivity.

https://www.ozolea.it/a-more-valuable-manure-for-better-crop-productivity/

⁵ Water quality is important for dairy farmers.

https://www.ozolea.it/water-quality-is-important-for-dairy-farmers/