Screening your cows with StaphGold® provides helpful new information to allow you to make informed dry cow therapy decisions, reducing the unnecessary use of antibiotics and the significant cost that can go with it.
Testing your cows for antibodies to S. aureus gives you a very good indication that the animal is infected, even if culture or PCR test results are sometimes negative. Furthermore, the test has a high negative predictive value, meaning that a negative cow is highly likely to not be infected. A negative test result for the herd is also a good indicator that you have many factors under control, such as staff hygiene training and handling practices, teat spraying and proper function and maintenance of milking equipment, that together can contribute to the spread of an infection.
The StaphGold® ELISA is easy to use. In most cases, the test samples are already collected by your herd testing or milk recording company, so additional testing is straightforward.
Herd test samples preserved with Bronopol can be used. The StaphGold® ELISA is regarded as high-throughput, and lends itself to both screening entire herds – for the most comprehensive view of S. aureus incidence on farm – and for testing cows with elevated SCC for a broader farm check on S. aureus. No labour-intensive aseptic sampling procedures are required.
Repeat testing provides more knowledge that improves the effectiveness of a control program. New infections can be diagnosed earlier, chronically infected animals can be clearly identified, and insights on cure rates or re-infections can be obtained after antibiotic treatment.
