Caprine intramammary infection: quality of milk

Abstract

This paper reviews the information available on the incidence of clinical and subclinical mastitis in goats in Spain, and discusses the effect of mastitis on the bacteriological and hygienic quality of raw goat milk. Particular attention is paid to subclinical infection in the Murcia-Granada goat breed (representing 30% of the females studied). Staphylococci and their capacity for production of polysaccharides are also briefly discussed. A recent study that found that bacterial counts in raw goat milk in Spain were higher than will be permitted by EC legislation coming into force in Jan. 1994 is reported. This gives cause for concern at a time when the Spanish goat milk production and processing industry is setting up a system of milk payment according to milk quality, with bacterial count maxima based on the EC limits. Data on the infrastructure of 2 farming associations set up with the aim of improving goat milk quality are also provided.