• What is PCR-based Mastitis Testing?

•PCR is a technique to amplify a single or few copies of a piece of DNA across several orders of magnitude, generating millions or more copies of a particular DNA sequence.

•The real-time PCR-based mastitis assay is a revolutionary method for cow mastitis testing.

•The assay can identify and quantify 11 major mastitis-causing species or groups plus Staphylococcal β-lactamase penicillin resistance gene.

• What are the advantages?

• Samples do not need to be sterile

• The preserved samples from Lancaster DHIA testing can be used

• You don’t need to collect a separate sample

• You can also pool samples from groups of cows to help cut down on costs.

•Other advantages include selecting only your high SCC cows after they have been tested in the Lancaster DHIA lab. You can also tell your technician that you want all cows over a certain level of SCC tested. Plus, you can request testing of any fresh cows from the past month to help prevent a new case of mastitis.

• Why use PCR-based Mastitis testing over the standard culture?

     PCR-based mastitis testing leads to more effective treatments by:

• More specifically identifying coliforms

• Identifying sources of mastitis in a single cow or bulk tank sample

• Identifying sources of mastitis in cows already being treated

• Decreasing test time from 2-7 days (conventional culturing) to 1-2 days from when we receive the sample at the lab.

• How do I get started?

• PCR-based DNA Mastitis Testing

• Mycoplasma testing

• Hand Towel & Bedding Cultures

• USDA Certified Johne’s Milk ELISA Testing

• Lancaster DHIA Customer Price