The Hygienic Quality of Raw Milk of Different Species

In order to investigate the presence of the bacterial and fungal cells in the locally produced raw milk samples leading to the serious spoilage and public health hazards, a total of 100 raw milk samples were collected randomly at weekly intervals (5 samples/ week) from the milk cans of cows, ewes, buffaloes, goats and camels located inside the farmers homes in the rural areas of the Wasit province during two climate periods where the first was summer period that extended from the beginning of July to the end of September 2016 while the second was winter period that extended from the beginning of December 2016 to the end of February 2017 (10 samples/ animal species/ season). The microbiological laboratory studies of the cultural investigation during the two climatic periods revealed that there were non-significant (P greater than 0.05) differences in the percentages of confirmed positive results for the presence of aerobic bacterial, coliforms, psychrotrophs and both yeasts and molds between the five types of raw milk samples that belonged to the five different animal species where similar findings of the prevalence levels of contamination (100 %) with the above mentioned organisms were found in the raw milk samples of all the five different animal species during each climatic period. An overall conclusion on the bases of this investigation pointed out that the relatively unhygienic practices and poor sanitation techniques in the milking process by the farmers in the rural areas were reflected on the highest significant (P greater than 0.05) bacterial and fungal counts in the milk samples of cows, ewes, buffaloes and goats for each season, in comparison to the camels raw milk samples that had significantly (P greater than 0.05) the lowest counts for each season. The results that obtained from the current study established the statistically significant (P less than 0.05) influence of season on the total bacterial and fungal cells counts where all the raw milk samples that were collected from cows, ewes, buffaloes, goats and camels had significantly (P less than 0.05). The highest bacterial and fungal cells count during the summer period and the lowest counts during the winter period.