Mammary gland infections in free-range goats in Kenya

Abstract

In the recent years interest in keeping dairy goat has increased and does capable of producing 8 I itres of milk/day are becoming common. With this increase In production there is inevitably a greater risk of rnastitis. The disease is important in goats because in peracute form it may cause death or loss of the udder hal!'"". In addition, it causes economic losses through reduced milk production. poor growth of kids and occasionally their death through starvation. As with bovine mastitis a wide range of organisms cause mastitis in the caprinel. Coagulase negative staphylococci are the most common isolates but opinions differ on their significance as causes of clinical mastitis In Kenya however, the etiology and prevalence of the disease in goats is not known. I n this report therefore, bacteria isolates from mammary glands of 27 Gala cross¬bred goats infected with mastitis and udder abscesses are presented. The teat tips and abscesses top skin were disinfected with 70% alcohol. Milk samples were then collected in 10rni sterile universal bottles and abscess aspirates obtained using gauge 18 needles and 5ml syringes. The samples were then taken to the laboratory at 4 degrees centigrade in ice boxes. In the laboratorv the samples were plated in blood and McConkeys agar and incubated aerobically at 3rC for 72 hours. Orqanisms isolated were identified according to the standard criteria as described by National Mastitis Council The predominant bacteria isolated were Staphylococcus eureos, etpnshemolytic Streptococcus and Actinomyces pvogenes, in that order. No growth was observed in 18% of the samples. In several other reports Staphylococcus eureus was the most common bacteria isolated. Other lesser common infections were Staphylococcus epidermidisi Streptococcus species, Actinomvces pyogenes and Pseudomonas aerogi However, there was a wide range in the prevalence of the infection. Mycoplasma and anaerobic bacteria, which require special media and culture conditions were not investigated and could have contributed to the high negative culture results. The incidence of these orqanisms have been reported to be high in some herds.