PREVALENCE OF MASTITIS OF DAIRY COWS IN KANAM LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study was conducted in Kanam Local Government Area of Plateau state to determine the prevalence of mastitis of dairy cows. Two hundred (200) lactating dairy cows of different breeds at different parities, and stages of lactation were used for the study. The cows were randomly selected from four dairy farms managed intensively and semi-intensively. Milk samples were collected aseptically from all the four quarters diagnosed and were taken for bacteriological examination. Data entry and management was done using Microsoft Excel 2016, while data analysis was done using STATA version15.Descriptive statistics was used to calculate the prevalence of clinical and subclinical mastitis. The result showed that majority(50.94%) of the cows examined were between 4 to 8 years while 19.83% were < 4 years. California Mastitis Test(CMT) test shows that 34 (9.81%) were positive while 90.19% negative. Out of 200 quarter milk samples, 86(9.81%) gave positive reactivity to California Mastitis Test, while 45 (26.28) and 69 (63.9) recorded as doubtful and negative respectively. High prevalence (89.50%) of sub-clinical mastitis according to (CMT) was obtained from farms examined while low prevalence (10.50%) of clinical mastitis was observed. The isolated bacteria were Staphylococcus spp. 101 (52.5%), Streptococcus spp. 25 (12.3%), Enterobacterium spp. 4 (2%), Lactobacillus  spp. 4 (2%), Coryneform bacteria 27 (13.2%), Micrococcus spp. 10 (4.9%), Pseudomonas spp., 11 (5.9%), Bacillus spp., 10 (4.9%) and Aercoccus spp. 7(3.2%). It was therefore concluded that, there was prevalence of mastitis (89.50%) for the sub-clinical mastitis while low prevalence (10.50%) for clinical mastitis in farms examined. Hygiene measurements were recommended to be followed to reduce mastitis in dairy farms.