Mastitis is the most costly and welfare-significant disease in dairy cattle, causing painful udder inflammation that affects millions of cows globally and whose prevention requires systematic management attention throughout the production system.
Mastitis represents a major and largely preventable welfare burden on dairy cattle worldwide. The acute form of the disease causes severe pain, fever, and systemic illness that can be life-threatening without prompt treatment. The subclinical form, detectable only through somatic cell count testing, causes ongoing low-grade pain and immune activation that affects quality of life even when cows continue producing milk. The welfare case for proactive mastitis prevention is strong: teat dipping after every milking, regular assessment and replacement of milking equipment, dry cow management protocols, and consistent hygiene in housing and milking areas can dramatically reduce incidence rates. High-welfare dairy management recognizes mastitis prevalence as a key welfare indicator and treats herd somatic cell count as a metric of success in maintaining cow health and comfort throughout lactation.