Justine Britten, PhD, said she is surprised that veterinarians and consultants don’t know that Staphylococcus aureus is present in at least one cow on every dairy during a recent “Have You Herd” podcast <Link>. The bacterium is responsible for subclinical mastitis. Britten recommends a monthly bulk tank culture as the bare minimum a dairy can do to monitor Staph. aureus and other pathogens in the bulk tank.
Source: Dairy Herd Management, May/June 2025. <Link>
If Staph. aureus was easier to see, more like a mycoplasma, I suspect producers would be a lot less tolerant of it.” – Justine Britten, PhD