Intramammary honey preparation for treatment of subclinical bovine mastitis: a preliminary study

Honey has been used in medicine against bacterial infections for thousands of years. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of intramammary honey administered during lactating period to eliminate Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. Three infected cows were investigated. Five milliliters of multifloral undiluted honey was administered aseptically in quarter by intramammary infusion during two consecutive days (day 1 and day 2) of experiment. Cows’ milk samples were collected for bacteriological analysis during interval of time: 0, 7, 14, 21, 52, and 60 days. The cure following administration of honey was two cows at 7 and 14 days; three at 21, 52, and 60 days for S. aureus infection and two cows at days 21, 52, and 60 for P. aeruginosa. In this preliminary study, the efficacy of honey has demonstrated as one of the new alternative therapeutic product against P. aeruginosa and S. aureus subclinical mastitis. Further studies may elucidate the susceptibility of pathogens microorganisms implicated in acute clinical and subclinical bovine mastitis, the dynamic of honey in mammary gland, and appropriate intramammary infusion.