| Abstract | The incidence of subclinical mastitis among 175 lactating buffaloes was studied in three governmental buffalo farms located in the middle of Nile delta of Egypt. Individual quarter's milk samples (699) was randomly collected and investigated for CMT, SCC, conductivity, chemical composition and mastitis causing microorganisms. The CMT positive quarters represented 21.6% of the total investigated quarters however; the front quarters were less susceptible (44.2%) to mastitis than the rear quarters (55.8%). The mastitic milk resulted in a dramatic increase of SCC (19.3 X 105) compared to the normal one (1.0 X 105) with higher SCC in the left front and rear udder quarters (23.9 and 18.3%) than the right one (7.8 and 13.1%), respectively. Compared to the normal milk, the mastitic milk had significantly higher concentrations of sodium and lower concentrations of lactose with no significant differences in milk yield and pH. However, the mastitic milk tended to have lower solids nonfat, potassium, calcium and ferrous and higher, magnesium and zinc content than the normal milk. The microbiological analysis of the mastitic milk samples showed the incidence of Corynbacteria (29.2 %), S. dysgalactiae (24.7%), coliforms (12.0%), Staph. aureus (10.3%), P. aeruginosa (7.4%), B. cereus (6.7%), S. agalactiae (6.4 %), S.. uberis (2.8 %), Mycoplasma (0.3 %) and yeast and mould (0.2 %). The contagious pathogens were the prominent microorganisms in the mastitic milk samples (71.6%) however, the environmental pathogens represented 28.4% of the total identified microorganisms. |