TITLE:
Evaluation of Milk Compositional Quality and Mammary Gland Health of Dairy Herds in the Southwestern Brazilian Amazon
AUTHORS:
Luciana G. Brito, José R. Vieira Júnior, Fábio da S. Barbieri, Rodrigo B. Rocha, Marivaldo R. Figueiró, Websten C. da Silva, Gilvânia L. O. Carvalho, José de Arimatéia Silva, Guilherme N. Souza
KEYWORDS:
Bulk Tank Somatic Cell Count, Udder Health, Milk Quality, Amazon Region
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Veterinary Medicine,
Vol.6 No.9,
September
27,
2016
ABSTRACT: Samples of raw milk from bulk cooling tanks were collected in five municipalities of the Southwestern Brazilian Amazon to establish the prevalence of Staphylococcus aueus and Streptococcus agalactiae, as well as to evaluate the milk composition and its correlation with the bulk tank somatic cell count (BTSCC). A total of 250 samples were collected to investigate the causal agents of bovine mastitis in whole milk, from 50 bulk milk tanks in each municipality. Under laboratory conditions, the samples were diluted to 1/10 and 1/100, and samples of 0.1 ml from each dilution were plated in triplicate on selective media for Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus agalactiae. To evaluate the correlation between the major milk components (fat, protein and lactose) and the BTSCC, samples were collected for 18 months from 73 dairy herds. The presence of the above-mentioned contagious mastitis pathogens was detected in 97.2% (243/250) of refrigerated raw milk samples evaluated. Analysis of the major milk components and BTSCC demonstrated that during the study period, fat compo-nent showed the largest variance, followed by protein and lactose, which also showed significant variances.