Rapid bovine mastitis test could help combat antibiotic resistance

Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast are working to develop a new rapid test for bovine mastitis that they say could help combat antibiotic resistance.

They’re trying to create a rapid diagnostic process that would detect infection using contaminated milk samples. While the test will initially require laboratory equipment, they hope it can eventually be transformed into an onsite process to make it faster.

Diagnosis currently relies on visual checks by farmers during the milking process, looking for changes like the formation of clots and heat or swelling of the udder. Occasionally it requires samples to be sent to a lab, and cows often receive broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment to minimize pain in the meantime.

The developers of this test say the use of such antibiotics could contribute to antibiotic resistance. They’re using a method called REIMS—rapid evaporative ionization mass spectrometry—in their diagnostic test. Aside from being easy for farmers to use, they say this can deliver near-instant results and reduce, if not eliminate, the need for broad-spectrum antibiotics.