Bovine mastitis incidence in animals treated with homeopathy

Abstract

The presence of pesticides, hormones and antibiotics in food is becoming prohibited. Consumers in different countries demand more natural foods with better quality. The bovine mastitis remains a major obstacle to dairy in any system of production, whether it is traditional, organic, or dynamic biological. However, for the two last systems, the disease represents an even greater challenge, as it does not allow the use of antimicrobial chemicals. The veterinary homeopathy has been widely used, but there is a lack of results concerning its effectiveness on the disease's control. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the incidence of bovine mastitis in animals treated with homeopathy in the region of Marechal Cândido Rondon - Paraná. Thus, the clinical and subclinical form were investigated through Tamis test and California Mastitis Test, respectively. From the 795 mammary quarters evaluated, 0.25% had clinical mastitis while 53.83% had a subclinical form. Additionally, there were similar percentages for the animals under traditional system of production, by the use of allopathic therapy. Though there is still need greater efforts to the control of subclinical mastitis, the homeopathic treatment was able to prevent the clinical disease, presenting additional advantage over traditional systems by enabling the production of organic milk.

agroecology; homeopathic; biodynamic production; organic production