© 1982 by Oxford University Press
research-article |
Cows Milk as a Potential Vehicle of Diarrhoeal Disease Pathogens in a West African Village
Medical Research Council Laboratory Keneba, The Gambia
*Present address: Public Health Laboratory, Withington Hospital, Manchester M20 8LR, United Kingdom.
The sources of bacteria associated with diarrhoeal disease were determined for cows milk collected in a rural West African village. These were found to be the containers in which the milk was collected and the cloth used for filtering to remove debris. The increases in total aerobic viable count at 37°C and numbers of lactic microflora, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus and coliforms including Escherichia coli were investigated in milks stored at at ambient temperature. The milks were generally sold either as fresh milk soon after collection or allowed to sour for 24 hours. Attempts were made to reduce the initial levels of contamination by these pathogens by collection in freshly washed metal bowls. Also, an attempt was made to reduce the subsequent multiplication of these organisms by the addition of baobab juice, a local souring agent, to the milk. The use of freshly washed metal bowls reduced the initial contamination of the milk although the multiplication of coliforms and E. coli was more effectively inhibited in milks stored in an unwashed calabash on the inside surface. Natural souring was found to have a greater inhibitory effect on the multiplication of coliforms and E. coli than baobab juice.