Recent technological developments of systems that use the electrical conductivity of milk to monitor the health status of goats

摘要

In ruminants, infections by pathogenic microorganisms can be the origin of mastitis and they can affect both yields and quality of milk. The health status of mammary glands can be investigated through standardized laboratory analyses such as bacteriological analyses and the somatic cells count. These analyses need their relative times to be performed. For this reason, researchers have studied new markers and indexes able to detect, early and directly at the farm, the presence of udder pathologies with a specific focus on sub-clinical cases. In dairy cows, the electrical conductivity of milk has been the most studied parameter. In dairy goats, only recently the same trend has been observed although similar advantages, in terms of udder health, could be reached when the monitoring of the herd is performed.