Abstract
Extract
Sir, The possibility that corticosteroids used to induce parturition could lower an animal's resistance to infections is real but has been difficult to test experimentally because cows induced to calve are usually the latest calving cows in the herd and directly comparable cows are not available. Buddie, Midgley and Ashly (Citation1976) suggest that corticosteroids used in this way may predispose cows to mastitis. We have examined records from two farms to compare the incidence of clinical mastitis in cows following induced calving with untreated controls.