Sub-Clinical Mastitis in Tharparkar Cattle

Tharparkar cattle is a dual-purpose cattle breed evolved as a drought resistant, heat tolerant and disease resistant breed of cattle, suitable for hostile climatic conditions and scare feed resources condition of hot arid region of Rajasthan. Subclinical mastitis is economically one of the most costly and menacing disease of dairy industry worldwide and stands as the major obstacle towards healthy milk production. It causes change in the milk composition and any change in its percentage in turn affect the suitability of milk processing and the quality of its products. Another important aspect is that the SCM is difficult to detect grossly due to the absence of any visible indications in the mammary glands and in milk, act as a reservoir of microorganisms that can infect other herd mates. Somatic Cell Count is a useful predictor of intra mammary infection (IMI), and therefore, an important component of milk in assessment of aspects of quality, hygiene and mastitis control. The book covers various host related factors such as parity, stage of lactation, season of calving and udder-teat morphometry with milk SCC and their effect on milk quality of Tharparkar cattle in Thar Desert.