Investigation of udder health and milk quality parameters of dairy farms in Northern Cyprus. Part I: SCC and bacteriologic examination

The aim of this study was to determine herd udder health and milk quality status of all 138 dairy farms in Northern Cyprus. For this purpose, somatic cell counts were measured, and bacteriological isolations were performed monthly for one year in bulk tank milk belonging to 138 dairy farms. The median value of bulk tank milk somatic cell counts was calculated as 521.583 cells/ml (>400.000 cells/ml). After bacteriological isolation and identification, Coagulase Negative Staphylococci from 22.73%; Bacillus spp. from 18.68%; S. aureus from 16.55%; S. dysgalactiae from 11.53%; S. uberis from 8.14%; S. agalactiae from 7.62%; E. coli from 7.44%; Micrococcus spp. from 1.81%; Pseudomonas spp. from 1.49%; Enterobacteriaceae spp. from 0.90%; Proteus spp. from 0.85%; Aeromonas spp. from 0.58%; Yeast from 0.53%; Pasteurella spp. from 0.47%, Alcaligenes spp. from 0.41%; and Corynebacterium spp. from 0.29% of the samples were isolated. In conclusion, it was therefore determined that there are important health problems in the dairy farms of Northern Cyprus in terms of udder health.