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Canadian Bovine Mastitis Research Network
 

Our Research 

Our Research Program  I  The Dairy Research Cluster

Our Research Program

Mastitis is an inflammation of the internal tissue of the mammary gland, caused mainly by the introduction of bacteria. It is the most common disease found in dairy cows and also the primary cause for the use of antibiotics in these animals. Mastitis causes significant economic losses to the dairy industry: production losses, discarded milk unfit for human consumption, yield losses during the processing of milk into various products, cost of veterinary treatments, early culling and mortality of the affected animals. In Canada, total losses are evaluated at more than four million dollars per year, or about 15 percent of the industry’s total net revenue. It is for these reasons that Canadian dairy farmers were motivated to put into place the Canadian Bovine Mastitis Research Network (CBMRN).
The long-term objectives of the Research Platform are to enhance the national capacity to conduct research on mastitis and to harmonize mastitis research by providing uniform data that originates from a single, nationally representative population of dairy farms.
 
CBMRN’s research program is built upon a virtual structure called the Core Research Platform.  This platform was created to facilitate communications between all of the players and to coordinate the collection, analysis and access to its data. It has three major components:
The Network’s research activities are conducted in several universities and research centres across Canada (Figure 1). Since 2006, five collaborative projects, conducted by researchers external to the CBMRN, have been added to the 10 projects that made up the initial research program. Four projects had been initiated in January 2010, following an internal call for proposals. All of these projects, including the initial ones, have completed their activities in March 2011. 
 
CBMRN’s research projects meet two main objectives:
 
1) To develop knowledge and technologies for the diagnosis and monitoring of mastitis and udder infections by:
  • The development of new strategies to optimize the monitoring of udder health and milk quality;
  • The characterization of virulence factors of the major and emerging mastitis bacteria;
  • The development of rapid methods for the detection of mastitis-causing bacteria.
 2) To develop knowledge and novel practices, products and technologies that will reduce the occurrence and prevalence of udder infections and clinical mastitis, by:
  • Increasing the resistance of cows to the bacteria responsible for mastitis;
  • The development of new therapeutic strategies leading to the reduction of the use of antibiotics;
  • The evaluation of the relationship between mastitis treatment and bacteria resistance to antibiotic treatments. 

The Dairy Research Cluster

The Dairy Research Cluster is a product of the Canadian Agri-Science Clusters Initiative that falls under Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's "Growing Forward" initiative. This Cluster is managed by Dairy Farmers of Canada and benefits from the financial support of the Canadian Dairy Commission and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
 
This Cluster's research program is focused on two main themes:
  1. Research into the health benefits associated with milk and dairy products;
  2. Environmental protection guidelines through applying sustainable development principles related to climate change and to the efficiency and longevity of dairy cattle through animal health and welfare. 

Thanks to $1 million in new funding from this Dairy Research Cluster, the CBMRN is continuing its mastitis research until December 2012.  Information about those nine new research projects funded by the Cluster is under the heading Projects.  

Future Vision for CBMRN: Sustainable production of safe, high-quality milk




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