COUNTS OF MICROORGANISMS CAUSING BOVINE MASTITIS AND STUDY OF ANTIMICROBIAL ACTION

Mastitis is an inflammation of the mammary gland caused mainly by microorganisms, altering the characteristics of milk and results in significant economic losses for this production complex. The study aimed to determine the main causative agents of bovine mastitis in a dairy farm in Rio Pomba city, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, and evaluate the use of plant extract and antibiotics commonly used in the control of microorganisms that cause this disease. Raw milk samples coming from 47 dairy cow were individually collected for microbiological evaluation. We also evaluated the sensitivity of isolates from the plant extract and the antibiotics commonly used in the farm. It was found that 17.0 %, 31.9 %, 85.4 % and 38.3 % of the samples presented, respectively, Staphylococcus aureus, coliforms, faecal coliforms and Escherichia coli. Furthermore, most of the samples showed counts of aerobic mesophilic microorganisms and Streptococcus sp. between 104 and 105 CFU.mL-1, while the counts of S. aureus ranged between 102 and 103 CFU.mL-1 in most of samples. A higher efficacy of tetracycline on the isolates of S. aureus was verified and of ampicillin on the E. coli isolates. All isolates of the latter bacteria were resistant to plant extract. Due to the high incidence of microorganisms, we emphasize the need for implementation of Good Agricultural Practices in milk production, because these bacteria are coming from hair, skin, mucous membranes of animals and/or belonging to the enteric microbiota of mammals, respectively