@conference {3672,
	title = {Contract session: Evaluation of the performance of real time PCR for detection of Staphylococcus aureus in dairy cows, using herd test milk samples},
	booktitle = {Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production},
	volume = {77},
	year = {2017},
	month = {06/2017},
	pages = {95-96},
	address = {Rotorua},
	abstract = {<p>Mastitis in dairy cattle is of considerable consequence in NZ, with estimates of over $200 million per annum loss of potential earnings caused by reduction in milk quality and decreased production (Blackwell \& Lacy-Hulbert 2012). </p><p>

Somatic cell count (SCC) is used by farmers for udder health monitoring{\textendash}with an increase in cell count being an indicator of infection. On-farm, monitoring the bulk milk (BM) SCC is used to gauge sub-clinical mastitis infection in the herd.  An increase in or a consistently high BM SCC can indicate infection.   Herd Testing (HT) provides the individual animal SCC. The Smart SAMM guidelines Seasonal Approach to Managing Mastitis 2011 plan suggests a target for national average bulk-milk somatic cell count of less than 150,000 cells/ml (Woolford et al. 1995), BMSCC exceeding 400,000 cells/ml are subject to dairy company penalties. Individual animal SCCs of over 150,000 cells/ml, or 120,000 cells/ml for heifers, are indicative of an infection...</p>},
	issn = {1176-5283},
	author = {Thresher RA}
}
