{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,5]],"date-time":"2026-11-05T00:10:24Z","timestamp":1793837424900,"version":"4.6.1"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783555200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100019789","name":"Punjab Agriculture Research Board","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Project ID No. 21-39"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Project ID No. 21-39"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100019789","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The empirical use of antibiotics for clinical mastitis is a principal driver of antimicrobial resistance in dairy farming. While on-farm culture systems represent a promising strategy for targeted therapy, robust evidence of their efficacy in heterogeneous commercial settings is still needed. We conducted a randomized controlled trial across 16 commercial dairy farms. Cows with clinical mastitis (CM) were allocated to a Positive Control Treatment (PCT) group (n\u2009=\u200957), receiving immediate empirical intramammary (IMM) antibiotics, or a Culture Based Group (CBG) (n\u2009=\u200946), where treatment was directed by a tri-plate on-farm culture system after 24-hour incubation. The cows were considered experimental unit with mixed-effect models within cluster correlation. Data was statistically analyzed using chi square tests, paired t-tests and Kaplan Meier survival analysis via SPSS (version 20.0). The culture-guided protocol enabled a reduction in antibiotic use, eliminating treatment for the 45.6% of CBG cases (no bacterial growth or Gram-negative infections). The clinical cure rates between the groups (CBG 82.6% vs. PCT 75.4%) were not statistically significant (p\u2009=\u20090.28). Similarly, bacteriological cure rates were comparable between (PCT 71.9% vs. CBG 71.7%, p\u2009=\u20090.987). However, the CBG approach revealed significantly lower treatment failure rate (17.3% vs. 24.5%, p\u2009&lt;\u20090.001) with a shorter median time to clinical cure (3 days vs. 7 days, p\u2009&lt;\u20090.001). At the herd level, the strategy was associated with a significant increase in milk yield (+6.94 L\/day, p\u2009&lt;\u20090.001) and reduction in somatic cell count (\u221256.8%, p\u2009&lt;\u20090.001). The tri-plate on-farm culture system is an effective antimicrobial stewardship tool, facilitating a substantial reduction in antibiotic use while accelerating clinical recovery and improving udder health in commercial dairy operations.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0353527","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T17:44:53Z","timestamp":1783619093000},"page":"e0353527","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Evaluation of tri-plate rapid on-farm culture system to make therapeutic decisions for mastitis cases in dairy cattle"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-2336-0736","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Sajjad","family":"Ahmed","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jawaria","family":"Ali Khan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Muhammad","family":"Avais","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0280-9335","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Muhammad","family":"Imran Rashid","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Muhammad Asad","family":"Ali","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0353527.ref001","unstructured":"Government of Pakistan. 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