Prevalence of Mastitis in cows and buffaloes from dairy farms in and around Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India

Milk samples from cows and buffaloes were collected from semi urban and urban regions in and around Visakhapatnam and screened for infection with mastitis. Milk samples were tested by employing, California Mastitis Test (CMT), White Side field test (WSFT) and Surf Field Mastitis Test (SFMT). Out of 1050 milk samples collected from cows and buffaloes, 610 samples were found to be mastitis positive. Samples which are detected positive for mastitis with high degree of gel formation were subjected to pathogen isolation on different culture medias such as blood agar, MacConkey agar, Mannitol salt agar, EMB agar, Nutrient Agar and Potato dextrose agar (PDA). The isolated bacteria were identified by performing a panel of preliminary and determinative biochemical tests. The most dominant bacteria isolated and identified from pure cultures were Staphylococcus spp, E. coli and Streptococcus spp in cows with a prevalence of 30.98%, 24.70% and 2.74% respectively. Where as in buffaloes E. coli and Pseudomonas spp were dominant with a prevalence of 32.25% and 24.73%, followed by Staphylococcus spp. Studies were also conducted to record monthly and seasonal prevalence of mastitis in cows and buffaloes. These studies indicated highest prevalence 74.57% in the month of September in the case of cows, and in buffaloes 76% infection was noted in the month of October 2019. Studies on seasonal prevalence indicated high values in rainy season with a prevalence of 64.65% and 61.25% in cows and buffaloes respectively. The present study is first of its kind from the state of Andhra Pradesh and throws light on the prevalence of mastitis disease in cows and buffaloes from dairy farms situated in and around Visakhapatnam