Skip to main content
Canadian Journal of Comparative Medicine logoLink to Canadian Journal of Comparative Medicine
. 1972 Oct;36(4):329–332.

Prevalence and Species Distribution of Yeast in Mammary Glands of Dairy Cows in Minnesota

R J Farnsworth 1, D K Sorensen 1
PMCID: PMC1319694  PMID: 4263910

Abstract

A study of the prevalence of yeast-like fungi in the mammary glands of dairy cattle was conducted in Minnesota. Quarter samples from 6,020 cows were cultured for yeast. Growth of organisms was obtained from 3.2% of the quarter milk samples. The rate of yeast infection for Minnesota dairy cattle in this study was 2.0%.

The majority of the yeast isolated belonged to one of four species of the Candida genus. Candida krusei, Candida parakrusei, Candida guilliermundi, and Candida tropicalis, comprised 89% of the yeasts isolated. All of these species have been reported to cause clinical mastitis (1, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16).

It would appear that yeast-like fungi are of sufficient prevalence in mammary glands that yeast infection would be considered in the differential diagnosis in cases of clinical mastitis.

Full text

PDF
329

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. INNES J. R. M., SEIBOLD H. R., ARENTZEN W. P. The pathology of bovine mastitis caused by cryptococcus neoformans. Am J Vet Res. 1952 Oct;13(49):469–475. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. LOKEN K. I., THOMPSON E. S., HOYT H. H., BALL R. A. Infection of the bovine udder with Candida tropicalis. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1959 May 1;134(9):401–403. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. MORSE G. E. A study of the milk production records in 71 herds under the supervision of the New York State Mastitis Control Program. Cornell Vet. 1961 Oct;51:586–590. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. STUART P. An outbreak of bovine mastitis from which yeasts were isolated, and attempts to reproduce the conditions experimentally. Vet Rec. 1951 May 5;63(18):314–314. doi: 10.1136/vr.63.18.314. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. TUCKER E. W. Case reports on yeast infections of the bovine udder. Cornell Vet. 1954 Jan;44(1):79–85. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Canadian Journal of Comparative Medicine are provided here courtesy of Canadian Veterinary Medical Association

RESOURCES