Comparative Analysis of Methods for Somatic Cell Counting in Cow's Milk and Relationship between Somatic Cell Count and Occurrence of Intramammary Bacteria

The aim of this study was to compare three on-farm commercial methods for the indirect detection of subclinical mastitis in dairy cows: the California mastitis test (CMT), the Porta side somatic cell count milk test (Porta SCC), and the DeLaval cell counter (DCC), with the Fossomatic cell count (FSCC), and to evaluate the relationship between the determined somatic cell count SCC and the occurrence of intramammary pathogens in the milk of dairy cows. A total of 284 sensory unchanged mixed milk samples, collected during the milking on a dairy farm, were analyzed in this study for somatic cell counts by the mentioned on-farm tests. Quarter milk samples (n = 583) from all the selected cows were cultured. The agreement, sensitivity, and specificity of the three indirect commercial diagnostic tests (the CMT, the Porta SCC, and the DeLaval cell counter) were calculated, and the FSCC was used as the gold standard. The results were analyzed statistically using the Pearson correlation test and the paired t-test. The CMT matched with the FSCC in 83.1% of the samples, with the Porta SCC in 80.6%, and with the DCC in 80.3% of the samples. The sensitivity and specificity reached 81.0% and 92.9% for the CMT, 79.4% and 90.7% for the Porta SCC, and 75.8% and 97.5% for the DCC, respectively. The correlation between the FSCC and the Porta SCC was 0.86 (p < 0.0001), and between the FSCC and the DCC, it was 0.92 (p < 0.0001). The differences between them were insignificant. Bacteria were detected in 130 (22.3%) quarter milk samples. The most prevalent bacteria were Enterococcus spp. (36.2%), followed by E. coli (20%), coagulase-negative staphylococci (13.1%), A. viridans (9.2%), Streptococcus spp. (9.2%), Proteus spp. (6.2%), and S. intermedius (3.9%). Contagious isolates (S. aureus) were detected in 3 quarter milk samples (2.3%). The agreement between the individual tests and the microbiological culture was as follows: 69.2% for the CMT; 73.7% for the Porta SCC; 71.6% for the DCC; and 76.5% for the FSCC. Higher SCCs were detected in the milk samples contaminated with bacteria than in the healthy milk (p < 0.001). No significance was found between the presence of individual species of intramammary pathogens and the different levels of SCCs. Based on the results, bacteria are the predominant cause of subclinical mastitis. The increased SCC of some milk samples with no presence of bacteria meant that the increase could have been caused by numerous other agents (viruses, fungi, or algae) or factors for mastitis in the dairy industry.