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Effect of Clinical Contagious Agalactia on the Bulk Tank Milk Somatic Cell Count in Murciano-Granadina Goat Herds

¹ Epidemiología y Enfermedades Infecciosas, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Murcia, 30071 Murcia, Spain
² Epidemiología y Medicina Preventiva, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35416 Arucas, Gran Canaria, Spain

Corresponding author: A. Contreras de Vera; e-mail: acontrer{at}um.es.

From 19 herds of Murciano-Granadina goats, weekly bulk tank somatic cell count (BTSCC) were performed from October to April, and suspicious milk (n = 182), synovial fluid, and ocular swabs (n = 15) from diseased goats were processed for mycoplasma isolation and identification. Also BTSCC from 65 herds were determined (n = 2693). A mixed model procedure was used to establish the effect of the herd and the lactation month on the BTSCC. Monthly rolling values were calculated for each herd using data collected over the preceding 3 complete months, and 4 different BTSCC thresholds were considered: 1,750,000, 1,500,000, 1,000,000, and 750,000 cells/mL. The mean log BTSCC for the 7-mo study period was 5.89 ± 0.28 for herds without mycoplasma detection from clinical cases, 5.91 ± 0.31 for mycoplasma-infected herds without clinical contagious agalactia (CA), and 6.47 ± 0.32 for the herd with clinical CA. The posthoc tests revealed that only the herd that suffered a clinical CA outbreak showed counts that were significantly higher. No significant differences were found for BTSCC between herds not showing clinical episodes of CA, regardless of whether the mycoplasma had been isolated or not. The 1,750,000-cells/mL threshold would only be surpassed by a few herds with serious mastitis problems (clinical outbreak of CA for example). Seventy percent of the goat herds studied were in compliance with the proposed European Union legal limit of 1,500,000 cells/mL for goat milk.

Key Words: goat • mastitis • mycoplasma • bulk tank somatic cell count

Abbreviation key: BTSCC = bulk tank somatic cell count, CA = contagious agalactia, EU = European Union, NMC = National Mastitis Council

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