The prophylactic treatment of bovine mastitis using homoeopathic nosode therapy

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of homoeopathic nos ode therapy as a prophylaxis for bovine mastitis. It was hypothesised that the nos ode would decrease the somatic cell counts in milk samples taken from the experimental group and hence the incidence of clinical and subclinical mastitis. A placebo-controlled double-blind experimental design was chosen. The sample comprised 69 Friesland cows selected from a dairy farm in the Karkloof area of KwaZulu-Natal and was divided randomly into two groups of approximately equal size. Each group was tagged, thus easily identified for treatment purposes. During the trial the two groups intermingled freely, and were therefore exposed to the same external influences. The medication and placebo were provided in identical 50 ml bottles, each labelled with a code corresponding to one of the groups. For each treatment, five millilitres from each bottle were