Influence of attitudes and behavior of milkers on the hygienic and sanitary quality of milk.

Recognizing how human behaviors affect the milk process can be useful to understand variations in hygienic and sanitary parameters in bulk tank milk. Furthermore, this knowledge could be used to design management programs that guarantee milk quality, favoring the optimization of such processes. Forty-six milkers from the same number of dairy farms in Antioquia province (Colombia) were interviewed to establish the main factors associated to milk quality. Technical knowledge, motivations, and behavior of the personnel and its effect on hygienic and sanitary quality of milk were evaluated. Quality was assessed in terms of colony-forming units (CFU) and somatic cell count (SCC) in bulk tank milk. Two factors from a multivariate mixed data analysis were evaluated. One of those factors explained 9.51% of the total variability, related with in-farm availability and use of tools and the relationships between milker and manager. The other factor, associated with work environment and recognition, explained 6.97% of the total variability. The variables that best explained CFU levels were Knowledge of the udder condition at milking, and Milking type (parlor or pasture). The SCC was associated to knowledge of animal handling, schooling of milkers, milking site, and the groups derived from the cluster analysis by farm. In conclusion, milker attitudes and behaviors can affect CFU and SCC in bulk tank milk.

Estimation of prevalence and incidence of subclinical mastitis in a large population of Brazilian dairy herds.

The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence and incidence of subclinical mastitis (SM) in a large population of Brazilian dairy herds and to describe how these indices changed over time. A data set comprising individual cow somatic cell counts (SCC) from 18,316 test days (TD) of 1,809 herds that participated in a Dairy Herd Improvement Association (DHIA) program between January 2011 and May 2015 was available for analysis. Only tests that had ≥10 lactating cows and that were performed at 30 ± 10-d intervals were used for analysis. The final data set included 8,285 TD from 517 herds located in 5 regions of the country. Prevalence (%) of SM was defined as the number of cows with SCC ≥200,000 cells/mL divided by the total number of tested cows on a given TD. The incidence of SM was defined as the number of cows whose SCC increased from <200,000 to ≥200,000 cells/mL over 2 consecutive TD divided by the sum of each cow's days at risk during this interval, expressed as new cases per cow month at risk. Prevalence and incidence of SM were compared among years, regions, herd size categories, and frequency of DHIA testing during the study period. The overall mean prevalence and incidence of SM including all tests performed during the study period was 46.4% and 0.17 new cases per cow month at risk, respectively. The prevalence of SM varied little from 2011 to 2015, and an increasing trend was observed over the years. Prevalence was lower in herds that performed ≥60 DHIA tests during the study period than in those that performed fewer tests and was not different among regions or herd size categories. Incidence of SM varied little over the years and was not different among the regions studied. Prevalence and incidence of SM in the 517 herds studied were high and did not improve over the years. These trends were observed across all herd size categories and regions studied. Producers who had more DHIA tests performed per herd during the study period had lower prevalence of SM. Results of this study highlight the need to establish large-scale milk quality programs in Brazil.