Among the health issues of major concern in dairy ruminants, mastitis stands out as being associated with considerable losses in productivity and compromised animal health and welfare. Currently, the available methods for the early detection of mastitis are either inaccurate, requiring further validation, or expensive and labor intensive. Moreover, most of them cannot be applied at the point of care. Infrared thermography (IRT) is a rapid, non-invasive technology that can be used in situ to measure udder temperature and identify variations and inconsistencies thereof, serving as a benchmarking tool for the assessment of udders’ physiological and/or health status. Despite the numerous applications in livestock farming, IRT is still underexploited due to the lack of standardized operation procedures and significant gaps regarding the optimum settings of the thermal cameras, which are currently exploited on a case-specific basis. Therefore, the objective of this review paper was twofold: first, to provide the state of knowledge on the applications of IRT for the assessment of udder health status in dairy ruminants, and second, to summarize and discuss the major strengths and weaknesses of IRT application at the point of care, as well as future challenges and opportunities of its extensive adoption for the diagnosis of udder health status and control of mastitis at the animal and herd levels.

This study aimed to evaluate the capacity of infrared thermography (IRT) to be used for the in situ clinical assessment of udder health status across lactation in goats. Two epidemiological studies were designed, with 106 purebred Skopelos goats being prospectively monitored over one lactation in the first study and 132 goats of the same breed from a second farm being enrolled in the second, cross-sectional study. Goats were categorized based on the clinical status of each udder half (healthy, fibrotic, both fibrotic and asymmetric, asymmetric, swollen supra-mammary lymph nodes, and abscessed). Skin surface temperature values of teats (TSST) and udder halves (USST), as well as temperature variations between different types of abscesses, based on the stage of their development (superficial developed, superficial fully mature, drained), and the symmetrical sites of the non-affected udder halves, were evaluated. Mixed linear regression analyses indicated that fibrosis, particularly when accompanied by asymmetry, resulted in a decrease of 0.2, 0.3, and 0.3 °C (p < 0.05) and of 0.6, 0.9, and 1.4 °C (p < 0.001) in the maximum, mean, and minimum USST, respectively. Recording season significantly affected USST and TSST (p < 0.001), with both of them increasing between February and August. Additionally, TSST appeared to be an unreliable indicator of udder health status, while abscesses exhibited distinct temperature patterns based on their developmental stage. It is concluded that IRT has the potential to be used on site for the detection of temperature alterations associated with chronic udder health issues, yet future studies on a larger and more diverse population of goats with various udder health conditions is needed to confirm its extensive applicability under real-world conditions.

Blood is a key component of organisms, serving numerous functions, including metabolism, innate and humoral responses, and hemostasis. Variations in hematological parameters can indicate the presence of infectious and non-infectious diseases, chronic stress, and other pathological or physiological conditions. Complete blood count testing is common in human and veterinary medicine and, when combined with clinical examination, contributes to disease diagnosis and prognosis and the monitoring of therapeutic progression. Nevertheless, hematological analysis is not routinely performed in sheep due to the lack of case-specific reference intervals, complicating the interpretation of the results. Indeed, hematological parameters may be affected by various non-pathological (environmental, genetic, physiological) and pathological factors, and they require further understanding and relevant adjustments to be universally applicable. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to summarize the existing literature and describe how various pathological and non-pathological factors affect hematological parameters in sheep, thereby supporting their incorporation into health management practices.

Health and welfare are fundamental to goat production; however, their impact on milk yield in goats reared under different farming systems remains insufficiently studied. The objective was to examine the frequency of various health issues in dairy goats reared under two different farming systems and to assess their effects on daily milk yield (DMY). A total of 286 Skopelos goats from an intensive (N_A = 153) and an extensive (N_B = 133) farm, all with the same genetic background, were prospectively monitored for two consecutive lactation periods. Each goat was clinically examined for animal-based health indicators every 50 days, while individual DMY was also recorded. Morbidity frequency measures (cumulative incidence, point, and period prevalence) were calculated for each one of the studied health issues, and mixed linear regression models were developed to assess the effect of each one of the studied health issues on DMY. The results indicated that overgrown hooves were more common in intensively reared goats, while anemia and nasal discharge prevailed in extensively reared goats. Udder asymmetry, udder fibrosis, body abscesses, poor hair coat quality, and swollen lymph nodes were common in both farms, albeit more prevalent in extensively reared goats, except for udder asymmetry. Among the studied health issues, lameness (18.5%, p < 0.05), mouth lesions (14.1%, p < 0.05), udder asymmetry (6.6%, p < 0.001), and udder fibrosis (9.5%, p < 0.001), were significantly associated with reductions in DMY. These findings provide valuable insights for optimizing herd health management practices in dairy goats based on evidence and farming system requirements.

The objective was to examine the frequency of various health issues in dairy goats reared under two different farming systems and to assess their effects on daily milk yield (DMY). A total of 286 Skopelos goats from an intensive (NA = 153) and an extensive (NB = 133) farm, all with the same genetic background, were prospectively monitored for two consecutive lactation periods. Each goat was clinically examined for animal-based health indicators every 50 days, while individual DMY was also recorded. Morbidity frequency measures (cumulative incidence, point and period prevalence) were calculated for each one of the studied health issues, and mixed linear regression models were developed to assess the effect of each one of the studied health issues on DMY. The results indicated that overgrown hooves were more common in intensively reared goats, while anaemia and nasal discharge prevailed in extensively reared goats. Udder asymmetry, udder fibrosis, body abscesses, poor hair coat quality, and swollen lymph nodes were common in both farms, albeit more prevalent in extensively reared goats, except for udder asymmetry. Among the studied health issues, lameness (18.5 %, p < 0.05), mouth lesions (14.1 %, p < 0.05), udder asymmetry (6.6 %, p < 0.001), and udder fibrosis (9.5 %, p < 0.001), were significantly associated with reductions in DMY. These findings provide valuable insights for optimizing herd health management practices in dairy goats based on evidence and farming system requirements.