title: Reliability in somatic cell count measurement of clinical mastitis milk using DeLaval cell counter.
abstract: Somatic cell counts (SCC) measurements are typically performed using quantitative methods, such as the Breed method (Breed) and the Fossomatic method (FSCC). The DeLaval cell counter (DCC) developed recently is a quantitative somatic cell counter with a low initial cost and superior portability. However, since the DCC was specifically developed for measuring SCC of ≤ 4 × 10(6) cells/mL milk from bulk tanks or individual cows, its reliability for estimating SCC that exceed this concentration has not yet been clarified. This study therefore examined whether it is possible to accurately measure SCC by diluting milk samples with initial SCC of 4 × 10(6) cells/mL, as seen in clinical mastitis milk. We collected milk samples from 99 quarters of 99 Holstein cows with clinical mastitis. These milk samples were diluted 10-fold with saline and thoroughly mixed before performing SCC measurement with the DCC. The correlation coefficients of SCC measured by the FSCC, Breed and DCC methods indicated strong correlations between each pair of methods. The findings showed that DCC can be used to identify bovine clinical mastitis milk and is useful as a quantitative SCC measurement device on farm sites.
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, Azabu University, Sagamihara, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawai
authors.forename: Tomohito
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kiku
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chiba
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nagahata
authors.forename: Hidetoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Higuchi
authors.forename: Tetsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Obayashi
authors.forename: Seigo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Onda
authors.forename: Sachiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: Reiichiro
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oshida
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002452:Cell Count / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D008414:Mastitis, Bovine / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008892:Milk / Q000166:cytology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
keywords: DeLaval cell counter; bovine; mastitis; somatic cell count