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Leading New Zealand agri/data-technology company Mastaplex announces major US distribution agreement with Armor Animal Health, a division of Veterinary Services Inc (VSI). 

13 June 2025: Mastaplex Ltd (Dunedin, New Zealand) has announced a major distribution deal with Armor Animal Health (Wisconsin, USA) for Mastatest®, its innovative mastitis diagnostic technology. This new deal will see Armor Animal Health promote and sell Mastatest to its customer base across  the major dairying states in the mid and western USA. 

Mastaplex CEO, Dr Olaf Bork, commented “The USA is a significant market for any agri-technology company. We are delighted to announce this deal with Armor Animal Health, which represents a substantial advancement of the footprint Mastatest has in the USA.”  

He continued “Armor Animal Health are a highly respected veterinary distributor in the USA, with their focus on working with dairy producers. We’ve been impressed so far with their detailed sector understanding, and the levels of service they show our mutual customers. We look forward to a productive long-term partnership with them.” 

Mastitis is one of the leading health issues affecting dairy herds globally. Dr Bork commented “It is estimated that mastitis costs the US dairy sector upwards of $2 billion annually, due to lost milk production, and treatment costs. Mastatest has the potential to dramatically reduce that, by enabling herd managers and veterinarians to make data-driven mastitis management decisions”. 

Traditionally every mastitis case would have been treated with antibiotics regardless of the cause, costing dairies both in terms of treatment costs and lost milk production due to with-holding periods. Today, experts recommend dairies identify the cause of mastitis and selectively treat based on this information. In the USA, published evidence suggests more than half of all mastitis cases will resolve without antibiotic treatment. This means lower treatment costs, a faster return to the milking herd, and therefore the potential for major productivity gains. 

Through Mastatest, its patented, on-farm mastitis diagnostic test, Mastaplex empowers farmers and veterinarians with fast, accurate, and actionable insights to guide treatment decisions and improve animal health outcomes. Mastatest is the first on-farm tool in the world to collect real-time, daily insights from mastitis cases from around the globe, making it the preferred tool. Launched in New Zealand in 2018, it is the number one on-farm mastitis diagnostic in New Zealand.  

Using Mastatest is easy: it takes just seconds to fill a test cartridge and start a test on the Lapbox™ hardware device. Samples are then automatically analyzed, and the data is interpreted in the cloud. Results detailing the bacterial species present (and its sensitivity to key antibiotics in some instances) are emailed back to the farm and veterinarian within 24 hours. All a dairy’s results are available 24/7 in the customer portal, as are custom reports that can be generated to support and power on-farm herd management decisions. 

ENDS 

About Armor Animal Health: Armor Animal Health, a division of Veterinary Services Inc (VSI) offers unmatched solutions by bringing together a legacy of proven products and services, along with connecting veterinary expertise, diagnostics, data, products and support. We are continuing to expand our prevention services and adding greater precision to our therapeutic and treatment portfolio. It's our desire to provide veterinarians and customers with a comprehensive animal health approach, leading the industry in the prevention and treatment of disease like no other company has done before. Detecting Diseases. Defending Animals. Delivering Promises.