Immunological Dynamics of Specific Antibody and Bactericidal Activity in Blood Serum and Milk Whey of Mastitic Goats

Abstract

Agglutinating antibodies and bactericidal activity were assessed in blood serum and milk whey in relation to Actinomyces pyogenes in clinically mastitic and normal goats. Higher antibody response and bactericidal activity were observed in the sera of mastitic than normal goats. Milk whey was shown to have less agglutinating antibodies and essentially had no significant bactericidal activity to A. pyogenes.  Determination of bacterial survival in the whey revealed that mastitic whey was capable of supporting bacterial replication better than normal whey. Bearing in mind that A. pyogenes frequently causes chronic or recurrent infections, these data suggest that antibody and the milk bactericidal mechanisms alone, may not be effective enough to prohibit udder infection by A. pyogenes