Collection and Care of Milk Specimens
Valid bacteriology laboratory results for mastitis control
require that contaminating bacteria be kept to an absolute
minimum. This requirement is relatively difficult since: 1)
the cow’s environment is rich in bacterial contaminants
and 2) milk is an excellent “culture medium”.
Bacterial contaminants can be kept low in number by the following
precautions:
| 1. |
Collect the milk aseptically: i.e. |
| |
a |
Brush dirt off the cow’s flanks. |
| |
B. |
Scrub the udder with a surgical detergent, rinse well
and dry with clean paper towels. (The order of washing,
rinsing and drying should be the far side first and the
near side last). |
| |
C. |
Apply iodine or alcohol to the teat orifice and allow
to dry. |
| |
D. |
Discard three or four streams of milk into CMT paddle
and test. Collect 5-10 mls. from quarters with 2+ CMT
value (or greater) into a sterilized screw-capped tube*
tilted to minimize contamination by airborne bacteria.
Collect specimens from the near quarters first and the
far quarters last. |
| 2. |
Tighten the screw cap, label with an indelible
marker (cow number and quarter) and immediately place
in ice. Simply placing the tube in the refrigerator is
not adequate to stop growth of bacterial contaminants
(a few are always present even when one is careful in
collection). |
| 3. |
Keep the specimens cold until they are
delivered to the laboratory. Delivery should be made on
the day of collection |
*Screw-capped tubes can be purchased from:
W. A. Butler Co
Telephone: (317) 872-3141
Ask for Falcon tube #2054. These are packaged 125/bag (1000/case)
and are packaged in a sterile condition. Baxter also carries
these tubes as well as Falcon #2025 and #2027 which are acceptable
for use in milk collection.
If you are planning to submit more than eight milk specimens
at one time, call the Microbiology Laboratory (317) 494-7457
to schedule the submission so that adequate time is allowed
for preparation of the necessary culture media. |
Abortions
