Hygienic Practices and Bacteriological Quality of Cow Raw Milk from Selected Smallholder Dairy Farms of Mersa Town, North Wollo, Ethiopia

The present cross sectional study was conducted to assess hygienic practices and determination of bacterial load of milk when directly milked from the udder and from the collecting bucket at the farm level in selected smallholder of Mersa town; from November 2016 to May 2017. A total of 120 respondents were interviewed and 60 milk samples were collected for laboratory analysis to assess bacterial load. Aerobic mesophilic bacterial counts (AMBC) and coliform counts (CC) were conducted on milk samples. Results showed that, majority of small-dairy holders were males, managing their cattle in unclean environments and practicing extensive grazing system on communal grazing area. The mean aerobic mesophilic bacterial counts of raw milk samples analyzed were 5.81 log10 cfu/ml (udder), 8.01 log10 cfu/ml (bucket) The mean coliform counts were 3.7 log10 cfu/ml (udder), 5.15 log10 cfu/ml (bucket) and the increment of both counts at the milk bucket was observed statistically significant (P=0.000) and there was no significant variation between kebeles (P=0.921) for aerobic mesophilic bacterial counts and (P=0.715) for coliform count. According to international standards of raw milk quality, both of the above counts found to have values above the upper limits. Milk produced by the selected small-holder dairy cow owners in Mersa town were of poor quality and can be a potential source of milk-borne infections.