Climate Change as a Driver of Bovine Mastitis: Impacts on Environmental Pathogen Ecology, Host Susceptibility, and Future Mitigation Strategies.

Integrate climate adaptation strategies with traditional mastitis control programs.

This comprehensive review examines climate change as a multifactorial driver of bovine mastitis, with significant implications for global dairy production. The authors demonstrate that elevated temperatures and humidity compromise host immunity through heat stress, reducing both systemic and mammary-specific immune defenses. Simultaneously, climatic variables alter environmental pathogen ecology, enhancing survival and proliferation of key mastitis pathogens including E. coli, Klebsiella spp., and Streptococcus uberis, while promoting biofilm formation. These changes extend seasonal risk windows, redistribute geographic disease pressure, and trigger acute incidence spikes following extreme weather events. The review highlights a critical intersection between climate change and antimicrobial resistance, where increased disease incidence drives elevated antibiotic use while facilitating environmental persistence and horizontal gene transfer of resistance mechanisms. The authors propose a comprehensive framework for climate-resilient mastitis control incorporating short-term heat abatement strategies, medium-term nutritional and genetic interventions, and long-term adaptive surveillance integrated within a One Health approach. The article emphasizes that proactive, multidisciplinary strategies are essential for mitigating climate-amplified mastitis and maintaining sustainable dairy production systems.

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