Mouhamad AL Masalam* (1) and Abeer Haddad (1)

(1).Directorate of Animal Health -Central Veterinary Laboratories.Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, Damascus, Syria.

(*Corrsponding author: Dr. Mouhammad Al Masalma. E-Mail: almasalma@gmail.com ).

Received: 30/08/2020 Accepted: 15/09/2020

Abstract

Subclinical mastitis is a global problem in dairy farms. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of subclinical mastitis in dairy cows raised in individual breeding systems by farmers in the Damascus countryside governorate and to isolate and diagnose the causative agents of this infection during the period from the beginning of July 2017 to the end of August 2018. 800 milk samples were collected aseptically from apparently healthy 200 cows. Samples were subjected to California Mastitis Test (CMT) and bacteriological analysis. Subclinical mastitis was found in 65% of cows and in 18.75 % of quarters. Microbiological analysis showed that there was a wide range of organism that cause subclinical mastitis in cows. In total; 153 isolates were identified. Staphylococcus species were the most frequently isolated (52.28%), followed by Streptococcus species (20.91%), then members of Enterobacteriaceae family (15.68%), then fungi (7.17%) and other types of germs (3.93%). The results of the current study showed a high prevalence rate of subclinical mastitis in dairy cows and highlighted the importance of regular screening for subclinical mastitis to detect and treat these cases, in addition to the importance of hygiene, sterilization and improvement of health care conditions in cattle farms.

Keyword: Mastitis, Bacterial culture, California test, Dairy cows.

Full paper in Arabic: PDF