An American company hopes to soon market a product aimed at bovine mastitis, a disease that costs Canadian dairy producers millions of dollars each year.
Aquila Biopharmaceuticals, a company based in Massachusetts, said the product, Quilvax-M, is undergoing licensing trials required by the United States Department of Agriculture.
Gerald Beltz, a company spokesperson, said Quilvax-M could be available to Canadian dairy farmers as early as 2001.
Bovine mastitis is often caused by the bacterial pathogens staphylococcus aureus, escherichia coli or various strains of streptococcus. The pathogens attack a cow’s udder and produce toxins that harm its mammary gland.
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Beltz described Quilvax-M as an “immuno-therapeutic” product. It will not prevent a mastitis infection, he said, but is meant to control inflammation of a cow’s udder and to improve milk quality.
Quilvax-M contains antigens from both S. aureus and E. coli, two of the main culprits associated with mastitis, Beltz said. The idea is that the product could induce the formation of antibodies against the two bacteria and prevent their attachment to the lumen of the cow’s udder.
Consistent quality
Beltz said an earlier study showed that dairy cows exposed to S. aureus and treated with Quilvax-M continued to yield high quality milk.
A somatic cell count helps gauge milk quality. The count measures white blood cells in the milk. A high count, which can be triggered by a mastitis infection, translates into a lower quality of milk.
“Dairy producers look at the somatic cell count all the time,” Beltz said. “How big their cheque is depends on what it is.”
Mastitis can also lower the content of fat, protein and other desirable components found in milk.
Aquila Pharmaceutical hopes to have the licensing studies done next year to prove the product’s merit for dairy producers.
If the studies show that Quilvax-M can safely improve milk quality in cows exposed to both pathogens, the product could be licensed in the U.S. next year.
Aquila Biopharmaceuticals describes itself as a life sciences company. It is already marketing Quilvax-FeLV, a product approved by the USDA to protect cats against feline leukemia virus.
Bovine mastitis is the most costly disease affecting American dairy farmers, said William Goodger, an associate professor with the University of Wisconsin’s school of veterinary medicine. He said the disease costs the American dairy industry more than $2 billion a year.
Besides causing low milk quality, it can add costs of antibiotics and veterinary care.
