Department of Primary Industries | CSU Homepage

Research Higher Degree Students Quick finder:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Photo_Lynne_ApplebyLynne M Appleby

PhD Student
School School of Animal and Veterinary Science
Location Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga
Phone 02 6933 4805
Email lappleby@csu.edu.au

 

Project

The Use of Plant Essential Oils for the Treatment and Cure of Bovine Mastitis

Summary

Mastitis is an infection of the mammary gland (udder) usually caused by bacteria. There are well over 100 different microorganisms known to be involved in the development of mastitis (Schroeder, 2010). Perhaps the best known of these is Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) which is notorious for chronic infections and low therapeutic success in dairy cows (Barkema, 2006). The conventional treatment for mastitis is with antibiotics. However this can sometimes be difficult and ineffective and is forbidden in organic farming. With this in mind, a sound alternative needs to be developed for use in the treatment and prevention of mastitis.

Essential oils may offer a pathway to complimentary treatments. It has been shown in previous research that many essential oils of plants contain compounds that are bacteriostatic or bactericidal towards many bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus (Hammer et al 1999, Dorman and deans 2000, Moon et al, 2006).

The idea of this project is to select a number of essential oils and using them both individually and in combination, test them in vitro on clinical specimens in the first instance. This will allow screening of many microorganisms and oils in a relatively short space of time and establish the most effective oils, combinations and individual components. This would then be followed by the development of an in vitro ‘udder model’ for use in more extensive testing of the most effective oils. The final stage of this project would involve testing oils on animals to establish the most effective for use in the prevention and cure of mastitis.

Supervisors

Dr Nigel Urwin; Dr Heather Cavanagh; Dr Jan Lievaart

Funding source

CSU Postgraduate Research Scholarship