Data Quality, Quarter-Level Organism Records, and Treatment Components in Bovine Clinical Mastitis in a University Dairy Herd: A Retrospective Record-Based Study

This retrospective, single-herd, record-based study assessed the availability and interpretability of quarter-level organism and treatment records from a university dairy herd. Seventeen documented mastitis episodes from 14 cows (1 August 2025–9 July 2026) included 36 quarter fields with organism entries. Escherichia coli, Streptococcus spp., coagulase-negative staphylococci, and Streptococcus uberis were recorded in 11/36 (30.6%), 9/36 (25.0%), 9/36 (25.0%), and 7/36 (19.4%) fields, respectively; 9/36 (25.0%) contained multiple categories. Ceftiofur and flunixin meglumine were documented in 12/17 (70.6%) and 11/17 (64.7%) episodes. Standardized severity, laboratory metadata, linked susceptibility findings, complete treatment regimens, and outcomes were unavailable or incompletely reconstructable. The records therefore supported descriptive reconstruction but not epidemiological estimates, microbiological validation, treatment-effectiveness assessment, or recurrence classification. Unique case-to-laboratory linkage is required for stronger retrospective inference.