We have two different machines in-clinic that we can use for mastitis milk sample testing – but what’s the difference between them?
The DairySmart Jupiter machine, which has been available since last year, uses traditional agar plates and an incubator. However, it uses modern AI to detect what bacteria species are present.
The Mastatest machine, which has been around for a few years, can run up to four cartridges for clinical mastitis or eight samples of subclinical mastitis, in a 22-hour turnaround period.
Here are the pros and cons of both:
Jupiter Pros
Identifies a wider range of bacteria, and any the AI does not recognise are sent to human experts for analysis.
Can culture out if there is blood-tinge in the sample.
If there is no growth after 24 hours, the culture can still continue for 48 hours for slower growing colonies.
Can have a large number of tests running simultaneously.
Jupiter Cons
Does not give antibiotic sensitivities.
Requires manual picture catchment at the 24 and 48-hour stages.
Mastatest Pros
Will give antibiotic sensitivities as well as bacteria growth.
Will pick up the common causes of mastitis.
Has the ability to test samples from high cell count cows.
Mastatest Cons
Can only run a small number of tests at once.
Cannot test blood-tinged milk, very clotted milk, or a sample with dirt in it.
The 22-hour cut-off does not allow for slow growing bacteria.
