STUDY ON THE INCIDENCE OF CLINICAL MASTITIS IN BUFFALOES CAUSED BY BACTERIAL SPECIES

An investigation on the incidence of different bacterial species in clinical mastitic milk samples of buffaloes was carried-out. The bacterial species identified were: Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Micrococcus luteus, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus dysgalactiae, Streptococcus uberis and Citrobacter species and their incidence in milk samples was 48.57, 2.85, 10.0, 15.71, 4.28, 1.42, 11.42, 4.28 and 1.42% respectively. Of the 70 positive mastitic milk samples examined, 55 (78.57%) and 15 (21.43%) were determined as having pure and mixed (2-3 bacterial species in individual samples) bacterial infection respectively. The incidence and predominance of bacterial species were also observed. The most predominant species recorded was Staphylococcus aureus and its dominancy was noted 34 (48.57%) times in the samples while the second most dominant species observed was Micrococcus luteus and its dominancy was recorded 11 (15.71%) times in the samples. The rest of the organisms formed a fraction of these major species.