Current situation

ProbShield aims to address two important problems for Greek cattle breeding a. the diarrheal syndrome of newborn calves and b. mastitis of dairy cows (both its clinical and subclinical forms). Both clinical entities appear in the majority of Greek cattle farms causing significant economic losses. At the same time, the Plan aims to reduce the need to administer antibiotics to treat them, significantly reducing the basic production cost of farming.

Calf losses from diarrheal syndrome can reach 30% of farmed animals, while the reduction of milk production and the premature removal of high potential and valuable dairy cows, as well as the quality degradation of the milk produced, threaten the economic viability of farms.

In addition, in recent years the emergence of the phenomenon of antimicrobial resistance has made imperative the use of alternative therapeutic and preventive approaches to the use of antibiotics, such as the addition of probiotics to animal production. This trend is strengthened by the awareness of consumers regarding the problem of antimicrobial resistance, and the increase in their preference for organic-biological products of animal production.

Addressing the problem

ProbShield is piloting the prophylactic administration of the probiotic Leuconostoc mesenteroides to prevent cow mastitis and neonatal calf diarrhea syndrome. The aim of the pilot application is to validate the use of Leuconostoc mesenteroides as a probiotic for the prevention and treatment of these two diseases and to record its beneficial effects through a specific research protocol and their pilot application in two different groups of animals for each category (newborn calves, dairy cows).

The probiotic will be added to certain groups, while there will also be a negative control group that will not be administered. During the pilot application, a combination of clinical assessment and laboratory indicators, which will result from sampling and laboratory analyzes at predetermined time points of the project, will be used to document the possible beneficial effect of the lactic acid bacterium in the treatment of the two specific diseases. At the same time, other data such as antibiotic consumption indicators, animal body weight and daily milk production will be recorded so that there is as complete a picture of the positive effect of the microorganism as possible.

The use of probiotics in combination with the reduction of the use of antibiotics to deal with animal health problems will strengthen the organic-biological profile of the farm.