Brilio.net/en - Five students from the Veterinary Medicine Program of Brawijaya University (UB) Malang created a condom for cattle named Hi-Mic for preventing diseases such as mastitis, or udder inflammation in dairy cattle.
One of the students, Lovy Cendya Luckyta in Malang, Saturday, explained that the Hi-Mic could be used to control cases of mastitis because it does not cause side effects.
It also does not cause irritation, said Lovy.
She added that the condom is used after milking the cows. This method prevents the entry of bacteria, which minimizes new cases of mastitis.
Besides Lovy, other students who participated in creating Hi-Mic are Zuhronu Feradatu Khusnu, Rizka Suryaning Dewi, Ema Eka Safitri, and Dicky Yoga Prasetia.
Their invention was presented at the 28th National Student Science Week (Pimnas) in Kendari on October 5 to 9, 2015. The research proposal passed the selection of the Directorate General of Higher Education (DIKTI) along with 34 other proposals to be presented at the same event.
Meanwhile, the supervisor of Hi-Mic, Dr. Dahliatul Qosimah said the idea of making the condom came from the decline in milk production in Indonesia due to several factors such as mastitis.
The Hi-Mic is modified from a the design of a human condom for the anatomy of the cattle nipple.
According to her, the purpose of Hi-Mic is to determine the potential success rate of the modified condom as an alternative treatment of mastitis. This condom is made of latex mixed with aloe vera extract combined through the maceration method using 70 percent ethanol. The design is customized to the size of a cattle nipple.
She said that this invention has been tested several times in lactating cattle suspected of suffering from early stage mastitis. The result shows the Hi-Mic causes no irritation to the nipple and the cattle are comfortable.
The CMT (California Mastitis Test) gave a positive result compared to the use of antiseptic or condom alone. The somatic cell count of bacteria is lower and a microbiological test using the Total Plate Count method showed a decline in the amount of microbial cells, said Dr. Dahliatul Qosimah quoted by antara, Saturday (3/10).
Previously, five students from various programs also invented a mastitis therapy-device for dairy cattle called Mastitis Biomedical Electrical or Mastimedis.
The idea to create Mastimedis originated from farmer anxiety about the high prevalence of mastitis in dairy cattle caused by Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus agalactiae pathogenic bacteria.
The infected cow has an adverse effect on farmers profits through the decline of milk production and quality, cost of elimination of tainted milk, cost of treatment as well as early culling of stock. If mastitis on the milk glands is ignored, the milk will be tainted by bacteria.
Typically farmers treat mastitis with antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. However, the mastitis-causing bacteria easily develop a resistance to antibiotics.
Mastimedis eliminates mastitis-causing pathogens with electroporation which kills the bacteria at a certain frequency and voltage. The device has been tested invitro, invivo, and also electronically.
This device will be studied and further developed so it can be used in all dairy farms in Indonesia to improve domestic milk production.