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Collaborative project: ZellDiX – A new cell differentiation index to assess udder health within the milk recording scheme, Subproject 2
Project
Project code: 28RZ3IP035
Contract period: 01.04.2016
- 31.03.2019
Budget: 193,173 Euro
Purpose of research: Experimental development
Currently, within the scope of the milk recording scheme the udder health of dairy cows is described by the somatic cell count in milk. A rise of the somatic cell count and the exceedance of a critical level indicate an inflammatory process in the udder. The somatic cell count comprises different cell types, mainly the cow’s own immune cells. The proportion of these different types of immune cells changes during the inflammatory process. This change provides further information on the status of the udder health in addition to the total somatic cell count. The aim of the project is to use the information retrieved from differentiating somatic cells in milk based on a new 'cell differentiation index” (CDI) to develop innovative indicators for milk recording and to introduce these into practice. Within ZellDiX using high-throughput units a cell differentiation index (CDI) is to be determined and to be compared with reference data for udder health. In a next step based on a large database this can be used to reassess the findings of the previous project milchQplus and to implement new diagnostic and prognostic tools for udder health disorders. The tools developed within this project are to be provided as a service to all dairy farms enrolled in the milk recording scheme and, thus, to improve the assessment of the udder health by the milk recording analyses. This contributes to a reduction in udder health disorders and, consequently, to an enhanced performance as well as a resource-efficient dairy farming.
Section overview
Subjects
- Animal health
