[Clinical, diagnostic laboratory and therapeutic studies of mastitis in a large sheep breeding flock].

During two lambing seasons, 6500 ewes of a large sheep breeding unit were investigated. Within this period, 467 ewes suffered from mastitis. The morbidity was 3.8% and the lethality 4.7%. In 84% of the investigated animals udder-pathogenic bacteria were detected. Mostly, Pasteurella haemolytica and Staphylococcus aureus were isolated as agents of ovine mastitis. Before and during the antibiotic therapy the clinical symptoms (general condition, temperature, milk appearance, consistency of the udder tissue) were recorded. The combined antibiotic therapy, which consisted of parenteral and local intracisternal applications, was mostly satisfactory concerning recovery from mastitis and survival of the ewes. Only 17 ewes died from mastitis; most deaths caused by Staphylococcus aureus.