Use of rumination and activity monitoring for the identification of dairy cows with health disorders: Part II. Mastitis

The objectives of this study were to evaluate (1) the performance of an automated health-monitoring system (AHMS) to identify cows with mastitis based on an alert system (health index score, HIS) that combines rumination time and physical activity; (2) the number of days between the first HIS alert and clinical diagnosis (CD) of mastitis by farm personnel; and (3) the daily rumination time, physical activity, and HIS patterns around CD. Holstein cows (n = 1,121; 451 nulliparous and 670 multiparous) were fitted with a neck-mounted electronic rumination and activity monitoring tag (HR Tags, SCR Dairy, Netanya, Israel.) from at least 21 to 80 d in milk (DIM). Raw data collected in 2-h periods were summarized per 24 h as daily rumination and activity. An HIS (0 to 100 arbitrary units) was calculated daily for individual cows with an algorithm that used rumination and activity. A positive HIS outcome was defined as an HIS of <86 units during at least 1 d from -5 to 2 d after CD. Blood concentrations of nonesterified fatty acids, beta-hydroxybutyrate, total calcium, and haptoglobin were also determined in a subgroup of cows (n = 459) at -11 +/- 3, -4 +/- 3, 0, 3 +/- 1, 7 +/- 1, 14 +/- 1, and 28 +/- 1 DIM. The sensitivity of the HIS was 58% [95% confidence interval (CI): 49, 67] for all cases of clinical mastitis (n = 123), and 55% (95% CI: 46, 64; n = 114) and 89% (95% CI: 68, 100; n = 9) for cases of mastitis alone or concurrent with other health disorders, respectively. Among clinical cases, sensitivity was 80.7% (95% CI: 67, 97) for cases caused by Escherichia coli (n = 31) and ranged from 45 to 48% for cases caused by gram-positive bacteria (n = 39; Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus dysgalactiae, Streptococcus uberis, Streptococcus spp., Staphylococcus spp., and Trueperella pyogenes), Staphylococcus aureus (n = 11), or cases with no bacterial growth (n = 25). Days between the first HIS <86 and CD were -0.6 (95% CI: -1.1, -0.2) for all cases of mastitis. Cows diagnosed with mastitis had alterations of their rumination, activity, HIS patterns, and reduced milk production around CD depending on the type of mastitis case. Cows with mastitis also had some alterations of their calcium and haptoglobin concentrations around calving. The AHMS used in this study was effective for identifying cows with clinical cases of mastitis caused by E. coli and cows with another disease occurring during an event of mastitis, but it was less effective in identifying cows with mastitis not caused by E. coli.