Hygienic and sanitary characterization of bovine milk from the Nariño province

Objective. The aim of this study is to evaluate the hygienic and sanitary quality of bovine milk from dairy farms of Nariño, Colombia by determining the presence of environmental microorganisms of public health importance such as Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli O157, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus and Yersinia enterocolitica and to evaluate the impact that the rainy seasons have on milk quality Materials and methods. Milk samples were taken in 180 farms located in four natural subregions, both in the high rainfall season and in the low rainfall season. Mesophilic aerobic count, a somatic cell count by automated methods, and a total coliform count in 3M Petrifilm® plates were done to each milk sample. Detection of Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes was done by the 3M MDS system, Staphylococcus aureus and Yersinia enterocolitica were isolated by conventional microbiology techniques. Results. The highest somatic cell counts were found during the high rain season. The median of the mesophilic, total coliform and somatic cell counts were 20,085 CFU/ml, 265 CFU/ml and 219,170 cells/ml, respectively, with no significant differences in the two rainy periods. Neither Salmonella spp. nor E. coli O157/H7 were detected. There was no significant difference among the presence of Listeria sp., L. monocytogenes, Y. enterocolitica, Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase negative Staphylococcus between the two rainy seasons. Conclusions. 80% of the milk samples met the hygienic and sanitary quality standards and no influence of the sampling period on the hygienic quality of the milk was observed.