A Quebec university has come up with a novel vaccine to help protect dairy cattle from mastitis caused by a specific bacterium.
Bayer has signed a deal with the University of Sherbrooke to develop and commercialize it.
Mastitis is the most common and costly production disease on dairy farms worldwide.
It causes milk losses, lower milk quality and productivity as well as increased veterinary care and labour.
10 to 15 per cent of all clinical mastitis infections are due to the bacterium this vaccine appears to work against.