Abstract
California mastitis test (CMT), direct leukocytes counts and bacteriological examination were performed on 630 milk samples from apparently healthy mammary glands of dairy goats comprising a mixed population of German Alpine, Toggenberg, Saanen and Galla crosses to find the prevalence of subclinical mastitis. The prevalence of subclinical mastitis was 9.8% according to CMT, 9.7% according to direct leukocyte counts and 28.7% by bacterial isolation during a 3-month period. The proportion of the bacteriologically positive milk samples was significantly (P <0.01) higher than that positive for CMT and direct leukocyte counts. There was a significant (P < 0.01) correlation between CMT and direct leukocyte counts. There was no significant direct relationship between bacterial isolation and CMT Bacterial organisms were isolated in 22.5% of the 568 CMT-negative milk samples. The results suggest that bacterial organisms isolated from the CMT-negative milksamples were either latent infections or did not stimulate any significant increase in somatic cell counts that could be detected by either the CMT or direct leukocyte counts. The observations of this study indicate that the mere presence of bacteria in goat's milk does not mean that the udder is infected and so does not warrant antibiotic therapy.
Highlights
In Kenya the dairy goat industry is becoming an important enterprise in highpotential areas where land fragmentation has rendered dairy cattle farming unsustainable due to insufficient feeds
In the laboratory the milk samples were tested for subclinical mastitis by California mastitis test (CMT), direct leukocyte count (DLC) and bacterial culture
There were no significant differences in the halves positive for subclinical mastitis according to the DLC reading among the 3 groups
Summary
In Kenya the dairy goat industry is becoming an important enterprise in highpotential areas where land fragmentation has rendered dairy cattle farming unsustainable due to insufficient feeds. This is due to the realisation of the economic benefits associated with this enterprise. There are various indirect methods that are used for diagnosing subclinical mastitis[16]. These include tests such as the California mastitis test (CMT); Whiteside test and Coulter count and direct microscopic counts of somatic cell counts.
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