Bacteriological quality of raw cow's milk from four dairy farms and a milkcollection centre in and around Addis Ababa

Bacteriological quality of raw cow's milk taken at different sampling point s from four dairy farms and a milk collection centre in and around Addis Ab aba was evaluated. Milk samples were aseptically collected from udder, buck et, storage container before and after cooling and upon arrival at the proc essing plant. A high increase in the mean total aerobic plate count was obs erved in milk samples taken from the bucket (1.1 x 10(5) cfu/ml), storage c ontainer before cooling (4 x 10(6) cfu/ml) and upon arrival at the processi ng plant (1.9 x 10(8) cfu/ml). The mean coliform counts ranged from 1.3 x 1 0(4) cfu/ml (storage container before cooling) to 7.1 x 10(4) cfu/ml (upon arrival at the processing plant). The hygienic quality of raw milk from the collection centre was poor with a mean total bacterial count of 1.3 x 10(7 ) cfu/ml. Milk sampled from the udder contained mainly staphylococci and mi crococci as udder-specific bacteria, while samples taken at later stages we re additionally contaminated with bacteria of environmental origin (especia lly Enterobacteriaceae). Lack of knowledge about clean milk production, use of unclean milking equipment and lack of potable water for cleaning purpos es were some of the factors which contributed to the poor hygienic quality of raw milk in the study farms.