Traditionally, intramammary infection (IMI) has been diagnosed by aseptically preparing the teat end, usually with an alcohol-soaked swab, followed by collecting a stream of milk via the teat orifice into a sterile vial using a gloved hand. While thismethod is commonplace, Hiitio et al. (2016) evaluated collecting milk directly from the gland cistern by needle aspiration using a sterile evacuated tube. Data from that report showed that, when using polymerase chain reaction to detect bacterial DNA inthe sample, there were differences in detectable bacterial DNA between cisternal aspirate samples and those samples collected using the conventional sampling method via the teat orifice. Unfortunately, their data only evaluated specific genera and species of bacteria including only evaluating the non-aureus staphylococci at the genus level. Hence, the objective of this study was to compare these two sampling techniques to determine if some species of bacteria, particularly within the staphylococcal genus, were more commonly found in samples collected via the teat orifice than those collected by cisternal aspiration thus discerning potential teat canal inhabitants from true causes of IMI.
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