Mastitis — inflammation of the mammary gland — is the most costly disease in dairy farming and causes significant pain, making prevention a dual welfare and economic priority.
Mastitis is both a significant welfare problem and an indicator of overall herd management quality. A cow suffering from acute mastitis — with a hot, swollen, painful quarter and systemic fever — is genuinely ill and in pain. Subclinical mastitis, affecting a larger proportion of the herd, causes chronic discomfort that may be invisible to farm workers without regular cell count monitoring. The fact that mastitis prevention is also economically beneficial creates aligned incentives that welfare campaigns can leverage: well-managed herds with low mastitis rates are both better welfare and more profitable operations.