Bacterial Contamination of Raw Camel Milk under Farming Condition in Khartoum, Sudan

Abstract

This study was aimed to determine the bacteriological quality of raw camels’ milk from udder and milking utensils through the assessment of viable bacterial count and identification of bacteria according to their biochemical reactions. The study was conducted in the period between May and June 2015, in three localities in the State of Khartoum. 7 Milk samples were collected from 40 she-camels directly from udder in addition to 40 samples collected from milking utensils from the same farm in three localities in Khartoum state namely Khartoum-North, East Nile and Khartoum. 20 samples from 10 she-camels from the farm of Camel Research Center at the University of Khartoum, 20 samples from 10 she-camels from Al-Hadadiya farm and 40 samples from 20 she-camels from West Soba farm. Thirty eight bacterial isolates were obtained from milking utensils, these are Stapylococcus spp.(26.6 %), Staphylococcus aureus (4 %), Acinetobacter spp. (4 %),Haemophilus spp. (2.6 %),Streptococcus spp.(2.6 %), Micrococcus spp.(2.6 %),Nocardia spp.(2.6 %), Bacillus spps (1.3%), Aerococcus spp. (1.3 %), Neisseria spp. (1.3 %) and Rothia dentocariosa (1.3 %).The isolates from udder milk samples 37, were Stapylococcus spp.(36%),Staphylococcus aureus (8%), Micrococcus spp. (2.6%), Bacillus spps(1.3%) and Enterobacter spp. (1.3 %). Twenty three samples (28.7 %) were free of growth of aerobic bacteria Species of Streptococcus, Acinetobacter, Haemophilus, Nocardia, Aerococcus, Neisseria and Rothia dentocariosa were isolated from the milking utensils only. The average of viable bacterial count (VBC) of the milk samples collected from the milking utensils was 5.6x106 cfu/ml. For milk samples collected from the udder the average of viable bacterial count was 6.9x105 cfu/ml. The difference in viable bacterial load among the two types of specimens was statistically not significant (P-value=0.317).