Ubropen is a new addition to Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health’s Ubrocare range of mastitis products and is an intramammary suspension containing 600mg of Procaine penicillin. Featuring optimised dosing and composition, Ubropen harnesses the proven power of penicillin to allow targeted treatment of penicillin-sensitive gram positive mastitis pathogens. It also has the added benefit of three-five days on-label treatment options and the convenience of not needing to be stored in a refrigerator.
The 600mg dose results in a concentration well above MICs for Strep. uberis and Staph. aureusfor 24 hours, even after milking, which means it only needs to be administered once a day. Its formulation, consisting of mirconised particles in an oily base, enables optimum distribution of penicillin throughout all regions of the udder.
“Traditionally, in the UK, we have favoured broad spectrum mastitis therapy as our first line approach, however in many other European countries, including The Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and Denmark, penicillin is the treatment of choice,” says Kath Aplin veterinary adviser at Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health.
“For farms with a mixed or unknown mastitis pattern, the traditional broad spectrum approach to mastitis therapy makes sense,” she goes on to explain. “However, many vets now have a good knowledge of common mastitis pathogens on clients’ farms and, for those where gram positive pathogens predominate, penicillin as a first line treatment is well worth considering.”
In a field trial assessing the prevalence of mastitis-causing pathogens and clinical cure rates after treatment with Ubropen, mild and moderate cases of mastitis were treated for three to five day, with the causal pathogen being unknown at the time of treatment.
“In 80 percent of cases of grade one or two clinical mastitis, the causative pathogen was found to be gram positive and, following treatment with Ubropen, the overall clinical cure rate was 81 percent,” explains Ms Aplin.
Ubropen is now available from the usual veterinary wholesalers in boxes of 20 tubes.
