Ongoing Research and Herd-Level Information for Monitoring Udder Health and its Best-Practice Application in the Nordic Countries
Bovine mastitis is an inflammation of the mammary gland, primarily caused by bacterial infections. It is the most common disease affecting dairy cows in modern production systems and therefore represents the leading cause of antibiotic use in adult dairy cattle. Mastitis also reduces milk quality as well as farm profitability and can, in clinical cases, compromise animal welfare. The One Health approach and animal welfare aspects highlight the need for effective herd-level mastitis management, to not only improve animal health and farm economics, but also to diminish its broader implications for public health and environmental sustainability.
In the past years, the NKJ funded the two successful networks “Healthy udders for sustainable milk production 2017-2019” and “Healthy udders with low or no use of antibiotics 2020-2021”. The NKJ funding of these previous networks has been a crucial element to initiate and establish collaborations between the partners of the current Healthy udders through a herd health perspective -network, to benefit from each other’s experiences, and to ensure a high scientific research quality. The established network assembles people with many different backgrounds in the context of udder health management who will bring up-to-date knowledge on evidence-based mastitis management from various successfully conducted and ongoing research projects, as well as from advisory work with farmers.
Network partners in Healthy udders through a herd health perspective include:
• University of Helsinki
• University of Life Sciences Norway
• Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
• Swedish Veterinary Agency
• University of Copenhagen
Past seminars:
1. 2018 – Uppsala, Sweden
2. 2019 – Tuusula, Finland
3. 2021 – Online (hosted from Oslo, Norway)
4. 2022 – Copenhagen, Denmark
5. 2023 – Uppsala, Sweden
6. 2024 – Ås, Norway
These events have shared ongoing udder health research and facilitated discussion of related topics across the Nordic region. To continue these successful meetings and discussions, the upcoming 7th Seminar on Nordic Mastitis will be organized as an on-site meeting in Tuusula, Finland, on November 3-4, 2025. The seminar will focus on herd-level information for monitoring udder health and its best-practice application in the Nordic countries. The program will also include presentations by participants about their ongoing research on mastitis-related topics. Priority will be given to presentations by PhD students and post-doctoral researchers.
Please, make plans to join your Nordic colleagues for an informative meeting with active discussions.
We look forward to seeing you at Tuusula.
Presentation Submission Deadline: October 13, 2025
Registration Deadline for Other Participants: October 20, 2025
Monday, November 3
• Buffet lunch and registration at 12:00-13:00
• Official program starts at 13:00, followed by networking with drinks and dinner at Krapihovi, starting around 18:30.
Tuesday, November 4
• Official program at 8:40-13:00
• Light lunch at 13:00-13:30
Thanks to the NKJ networking grant, there is no registration fee for mastitis researchers and advisers from farmer organizations in the Nordic countries actively working on udder health issues, but registration is required. Registration includes lunch and coffee on both days and dinner on Monday evening.
PhD students and postdoctoral researchers who are presenting at the seminar may apply for a travel grant to support travel and accommodation expenses. Those who wish to be considered should indicate this when registering for the seminar.
Presentation Submission Deadline: October 13, 2025
Registration Deadline for Other Participants: October 20, 2025
The November 3-4, 2025 seminar will take place at Krapi, Tuusula, Rantatie 2, 04310 Tuusula, Finland. Krapi is located on the eastern shore of Lake Tuusula, at the at the intersection of museum road Rantatie and Tuusulantie (Road 145). Krapi includes both Krapi and Onnela regions. The distance to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport is 15 kilometres and to the center of Helsinki, 30 kilometres.
Arriving from Helsinki Airport:
Distance from Helsinki Airport to Krapi is about 15 km. The most convenient way to come to Krapi is to take a taxi from the airport (about 15 min).
It is possible to book private Airport taxi from the airport to Krapi. Price is settled and booking must be done in advance, latest 24h before arrival time. Hotel reception can book the transport for you.
Public transportation
Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen, Vantaa, Kerava, Sipoo, Tuusula, Kirkkonummi and Siuntio form an integrated public transport area where traveling is easy and affordable. The region has an integrated ticketing system and HSL tickets are valid on all buses, commuter trains and trams, as well as on the metro and Suomenlinna ferry on the area.
Time tables for buses and trains
You get to Krapi by bus directly from Helsinki, Kerava and Järvenpää.
Arriving from the direction of Järvenpää the bus stop ”Krapin pysäkki” is just in front of Krapi. Arriving from south the bus stop is about 150m after Krapi.
Info coming soon
Riitta Niemi, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Production Animal Medicine, Finland
riitta.e.niemi@helsinki.fi
Camilla Kielland, University of Life Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary medicine, Department of Production Animal Sciences, Norway
Camilla.kielland@nmbu.no
Josef Dahlberg, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary medicine and animal science, Department of Clinical Sciences, Sweden
Josef.dahlberg@slu.se
Line Svennesen, University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Denmark
line.svennesen@sund.ku.dk
Svenja Woudstra, University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Denmark
svenja.woudstra@sund.ku.dk
Dinah Seligsohn, Swedish Veterinary Agency, Sweden
dinah.seligsohn@sva.se