Seven variables -electrical conductivity (EC), somatic cell count (SCC), N-acetyl-b-D-glucosaminidase (NAGase), lactose, protein, fat and pH -were compared in four quarter milk fractions (MF1 : strict foremilk ; MF2: first 12-15 ml foremilk; MF3: subsequent 40-45 ml milk; MF4: strippings) and in one cow composite milk sample (CC) per cow. The study used 142 quarters from 37 lactating cows of the German Black Pied breed. To rule out any possible effect due to management, animal physiology and analytical procedures, the collection and processing of milk samples from each cow was repeated for three consecutive days, and the means of 3-d values were used. All variables were affected significantly by milk fraction and udder health. Compared with foremilk, EC, lactose and protein levels in strippings decreased, while SCC, NAGase and fat increased. The pH of foremilk and strippings did not differ significantly in healthy or in mastitic quarters. The difference between MF1 and MF2 was significant for EC in mastitic quarters, and for SCC in healthy quarters only. In general, mastitis resulted in a significant increase in EC, SCC, NAGase and protein but in a decrease in lactose and fat contents of milk in one or more of the milk fractions studied. Comparison of cow composite milk samples from healthy and mastitic cows revealed the significance (P <0 . 01) of udder health for EC, SCC and lactose. Of the different parameters that can distinguish between healthy and mastitic quarters or cows, EC could be used to classify 76 % of quarters and 73 % of cows correctly, while the lactose content permitted correct identification of 81 % of quarters and 76 % of cows. NAGase and pH could be used to determine the status of 73 % and 61 % of quarters, respectively. In general, the correlation observed in strippings was higher than in foremilk for almost all the variables studied. Surprisingly, EC, SCC, NAGase and lactose in milk from healthy quarters of mastitic cows (with at least one mastitic quarter) differed significantly (P <0 . 05) from those from healthy quarters of cows with all four healthy quarters, indicating an inconsistent effect of mastitic quarters on neighbouring healthy quarters (quarter interdependence).

Aim:As in India especially, the Punjab state sero-prevalence and distribution of ehrlichiosis in relation to clinico-hematobiochemical response remains largely unexplored. Thus, this study was designed to determine the prevalence of vector (tick)-borne tropical canine pancytopenia caused by Ehrlichia canis through enzyme labeled ImmunoComb® (IC) assay in dogs from in and around Ludhiana, Punjab. Correlation of prevalence was made with various clinico-hematobiochemical parameters.Materials and Methods:Seroprevalence study was carried out using IC® test kit (Biogal, Galed Labs). The study was conducted in 84 dogs presented to the Small Animal Clinics, Teaching Veterinary Clinical Complex, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, Punjab.Results:Out of 84 suspected dogs for ehrlichiosis, based on peripheral thin blood smear examination 12 (14.28%) cases were positive for the morulae of E. canis and 73 (86.90%) dogs were found positive to E. canis antibodies through IC® canine Ehrlichia antibody test kit, respectively. Among the different age groups 1-3 years of aged group showed highest prevalence (41.09%), followed by the 3-6 years age group (32.87%), infection levels were lower in the <1 year of age group dogs (13.69%) and more than 6 years age group dogs (12.32%). The highest prevalence was seen in Labrador retriever. This study indicates that season plays a very important role in the prevalence of ehrlichiosis. The most common findings observed were anemia, leukocytosis, neutropenia, lymphopenia, thrombocytopenia, eosinophilia followed by hyperbilirubinemia, increased levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase, hypoalbuminemia, hyperglobulinaemia, decrease in albumin and globulin ratio, increase in blood urea nitrogen and creatinine.Conclusions:Serological techniques like IC® are more useful for detecting chronic and subclinical infections and are ideally suited to epidemiological investigations.

The present investigation involved 261 Holstein Friesian (HF) × Sahiwal cows to study the udder health as well as the udder and teat morphometry. The udder health was defined on the basis of bacteriology and California mastitis test of quarter foremilk. The morphometry parameters included udder fore depth (UFD, distance from the point where the fore udder merges within the abdomen to a point in front of the fore teats at the level of the udder base), udder rear depth (URD, distance from the bottom of the vulva to the base of the rear udder), udder depth (UD, level of the udder base with respect to hock joint), height of the udder from the floor, teat length, teat diameter (at mid of the teat barrel), teat-tip to floor distance and distance between the teats. The URD, UD and height of udder from the floor showed a significant (P < 0.05) relation to the udder health with mastitic cows having larger URD, smaller udder distance from the floor and the udder base placed below the hock joint. The cows with teat length larger than 4.5 cm and teat diameter 3.0 cm or larger had significantly more quarters affected with mastitis. Further, cows with teats placed nearer to the floor were more susceptible to mastitis (P < 0.01). No significant differences were found between healthy and mastitic udders with respect to UFD and distance between teats. It can be concluded that selection for optimum udder and teat morphometry in breeding programmes may help to reduce susceptibility to intramammary infections in HF × Sahiwal cows.

The 399 clinically healthy quarters from 101 Murrah buffaloes were analyzed for somatic cell count (SCC; DCC and microscope methods) and biochemical composition of milk in relation to udder health. The udder health revealed specific subclinical mastitis (SSM) in 7% and non-specific mastitis (NSM) in 49% of quarters. Latent infections comprised 1%. Staphylococci (43%), streptococci (39%) and corynebacteria (18%) constituted chief etiological agents in SSM. Electrical conductivity increased significantly both in SSM and NSM compared to healthy quarters. Significant effects for SNF and density were seen in SSM only. DCC and microscope depicted similar cell counts with a correlation coefficient of 0.89. The correlations of DCC with CMT and EC were 0.85 and 0.51, respectively. Quarters with negative CMT reactions had DCC values of < 3 × 105 cells/ml. The DCC means for negative, trace, and +1 to 2 CMT scores were 122, 238, and 593 (× 103) cells/ml, respectively. Lactose with discrimination ability of 83.76% was found better indicator of udder inflammation in buffaloes. Buffaloes unlike cows have low numbers of quarter infections, respond similarly as cows to udder inflammation but at different levels, and DCC may be effectively employed for expressing milk cell count in this species