A review of the factors affecting the costs of bovine mastitis.

Mastitis is one of the most prevalent production diseases affecting the dairy cattle industry worldwide. Its occurrence is associated with direct and indirect losses and expenditures. When estimating the cost of mastitis to the dairy industry the cost of the control programmes must be added. The direct losses of mastitis are the only costs obvious to the farmer. The difference between the costs of mastitis on one side and the benefits of mastitis control on the other side will give us a picture of the economic efficacy of the mastitis control programme. Continuing education of the farmer is needed for better mastitis control programmes. This article is an attempt to review briefly all relevant factors included in the economics of bovine mastitis and to illustrate the authors' view of some of the costs.