Determination of udder health in camels (Camelus dromedarius)

Mastitis tests based on milk changes have been developed for dairy animals. These include somatic cell count (SCC), the marker most frequently used in the dairy industry for determining the milk quality and N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAGase), an enzyme released from damaged cells in the mammary gland, that is a good indicator of mastitis in bovine and ovine milk. The bacteriological examination results showed that 35% of the milk quarters yielded pathogenic bacteria while Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci represented 83% of the isolates. Mean values of SCC for the infected quarters were significantly higher from which no bacteria was isolated. There were no significant differences in NAGase activities between infected and noninfected quarters. It is concluded that somatic cell count can be used as an inflammation marker and as an udder infection indicator in the dromedary camel and according to our results, NAGase activity cannot be used as a diagnostic tool for mastitis in camels.