FastMast

Mastitis is the most common disease in dairy cattle, but also the most expensive disease for treatment. In the herd without proper animal control, almost 40% of cows suffer from mastitis and the analysis shows that mastitis damage is on average 200 € per animal and any progress in early detection of mastitis brings savings in M€s. Mastitis begins with bacterial infection through the teat duct and enters the cisternal area. The disease is mostly transmitted by contaminated hands or milking machines.

 

We have developed a simple and inexpensive device for early detection of mastitis with a 70-80% accuracy, called FastMast, and it is based on the fact that in the early stage of mastitis, cells membrane is damaged inside the mammary gland, resulting in increased concentration of Na+ and Cl- ions in milk. It is aimed to small farmers and untrained people due to its low cost, simple handling, and maintenance.