Keep your hands and the milking area under the cows as free as possible from dirt and contaminated milk to reduce the transfer of bacteria. Do not use high pressure hoses directly beneath or around cows, as these can create aerosols of bacteria-laden droplets that form and settle onto cows.

Clinical cases and chronically infected cows are a source of infection for healthy cows. If these mastitis cows are milked last, the risk of spreading infection is markedly reduced.

Guideline 8 provides practical information on:

• The importance of wearing gloves during milking
• Disinfecting equipment used for clinical cases
• Identifying infected cows and milking them last.

Technote 8 provides technical information for farmers and advisers on:

• Types of gloves available (nitrile, latex, rubber)
• Cluster flushing systems
• Value of segregating high SCC cows.