Abstract

The incidence of clinical mastitis in dairy goats is low at less than 5% per lactation (Bergonier et al., 2003), however, there is a recognised need in the industry for a simple, practical and reliable means for the detection of sub-clinical mastitis. In goats, conversely to cows, somatic cell counts (SCC) are not a reliable indicator of infection. Bacteriological cultures can be used to identify glands with subclinical infection, but this approach involves specialized sampling. Serum amyloid A (SAA) is a family of acute phase proteins that is produced in response to infection and inflammation. Levels of this protein in milk have been ...Continued

AJ, Hodgkinson, LJ Kivits, AJ Molenaar, S McDougall, and CG Prosser

Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Volume 68, Brisbane, Australia, 105-106, 2008