Effectiveness of selected premilking teat-cleaning regimes in reducing teat microbial load on commercial dairy farms

Abstract

Aims: To determine the effectiveness of premilking teat‐cleaning regimes in reducing the teat microbial load and effect on milk quality. Methods and Results: The effectiveness of several premilking teat‐cleaning regimes in reducing teat microbial load was assessed using 40 cows on each of the four commercial UK dairy farms with herringbone parlours during two sampling periods. In the first experiment, all the treatments reduced teat total viable count (TVC), but there was no significant difference between the hypochlorite wash and dry wipe, iodine dip and dry and alcohol‐medicated wipe or dry wipe alone. In the second experiment, the chlorine wash and dry wipe was significantly more effective in reducing teat TVC than a water wash and dry, chlorine dip and dry or a dry wipe. There was no relationship between cleaning regime and milk TVC, Enterobacteriaceae or Escherichia coli levels. Conclusions: All of the cleaning techniques studied reduced teat microbial load, however, the chlorine wash and dry was the most effective. Significance and Impact of the study: The premilking teat‐cleaning techniques studied reduced the teat microbial load and therefore reduced the potential for milk contamination; however, a wash including an effective disinfectant followed by a dry wipe was the most effective.

Effect of pre-milking antiseptic treatment on the bacterial contamination of cow teats’ skin

“…Iodine has bactericidal activity against both Grampositive and Gram-negative bacteria (Gleeson et al, 2009). It is shown that the use of disinfectants with iodine can have beneficial effects on reducing the levels of staphylococcal and streptococcal pathogens on teat skin (Gibson et al, 2008). The study concluded that most premilking teat cleaning treatments reduce the teat total bacterial count, but that cleaning effectiveness was influenced by the type of disinfectant and the application methods.…”

“…Pre-dipping with effective products helps accomplish this (Gleeson et al, 2009). Gibson et al (2008) showed that a pre-milking teat cleaning regime involving the washing of teats with an effective antiseptic and then drying was the most effective for removing bacteria and minimising bacterial growth.…”

“…Many producers dip teats before milking with various disinfectant products such as iodophor solution, iodine based gel, sodium hypochlorite, chlorine, chlorhexidine, lactic acid (Galton et al, 1986;Ingawa et al, 1992;Oliver et al, 1993;Gibson et al, 2008). A number of organic acids (including lactic acid) with bactericidal properties are applied as disinfectants for animal health purposes.…”

Effect of omitting teat preparation on bacterial levels in bulk tank milk

“…However, it is a common practice on seasonal farms in Ireland to omit teat preparation entirely prior to cluster application (Kelly et al, 2009;O'Connell et al, 2013). Many authors have demonstrated that among all pre-milking procedures, a wet cleaning treatment followed by manual drying with paper resulted in the lowest milk bacterial counts (Galton et al, 1984;McKinnon et al, 1990;Gibson et al, 2008). The practice of dry wiping teats to remove debris prior to cluster attachment was also associated with lowering the presumptive Bacillus cereus count in bulk tank milk when animals were managed outdoors .…”

Atividade antimicrobiana in vitro do extrato etanólico bruto da folha da Hymenaea martiana Hayne frente às Staphylococcus spp. e avaliação de seu potencial como desinfetante em cabras

“…Sendo que no presente trabalho a redução foi em média de 80%. Assim o pré-dipping é uma importante ferramenta para controle dos patógenos causadores da mastite em rebanhos leiteiros, e assim ser fundamental na prevenção de doenças de origem ambiental e infecciosa (Gibson et al 2008, Gleeson et al 2009, Kamal & Bayoumi 2015.…”