Mastitis caused by Yersinia pseudotuberculosis in a cow

Subclinical mastitis with a raised somatic cell count was diagnosed in a cow in her fifth lactation. It was caused by Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, which can also infect humans. This is the first time that Yersinia pseudotuberculosis has been isolated from a mastitis sample in The Netherlands. Despite treatment with antibiotics in the dry period, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis was still present in the same quarter in the subsequent lactation. The somatic cell count was still high and milk production was much lower than in previous lactation. The pathogen did not spread to other quarters of the same cow or to herd mates on the farm over a 1-year period.