to Neospora caninum infection in dairy cattle

Abstract

SMALLHOLDER DAIRY FARMERS FROM THE STATE OF MEXICO, MEXICO FACE THE CHALLENGE OF MEETING THE QUALITY STANDARDS ESTABLISHED BY MEXICAN REGULATIONS STATED IN THE MEXICAN NORM (NMX) NMX-F-700-COFOCALEC-2004 FOR RAW MILK. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS WORK WAS TO DETERMINE THE PHYSICOCHEMICAL QUALITY OF RAW MILK IN DIFFERENT SEASONS, REGIONS AND AMONG FARMERS WHOSE PRINCIPLE OR COMPLIMENTARY INCOME PROCEEDS FROM THE DAIRY ACTIVITY. ADULTERATION OF MILK BY ADDED WATER WAS ALSO EVALUATED. THE VARIABLES MEASURED WERE PH, ACIDITY, DENSITY, FAT, PROTEIN, LACTOSE, TOTAL SOLIDS, ASH CONTENT AND ADDED WATER. THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTO SAMPLES WERE TAKEN DURING SIX EXPERIMENTAL PERIODS, FROM AUGUST 2003 TO JULY 2004. A SPLIT PLOT DESIGN WAS USED, WHERE THE BLOCKING FACTOR WERE: THE ZONES, THE MAIN PLOT, THE FARMERS ACCORDING TO THEIR DAIRY ACTIVITY AND THE SPLIT PLOTS, DURING THE SIX SAMPLING PERIODS. RESULTS WERE ANALYZED BY ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE, TUKEY TEST, CORRELATION AND REGRESSION ANALYSIS. IT WAS OBSERVED THAT THE PHYSICOCHEMICAL QUALITY OF THE MILK MEETS THE LEVELS ESTABLISHED BY THE NMX FOR NORTH AND SOUTH REGIONS OF MEXICO, FOR IMPORTANCE AND PERIODS. SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES (P < 0.05) WERE OBSERVED FOR FAT, DENSITY AND TOTAL SOLIDS CONTENTS BETWEEN ZONES. SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES (P < 0.05) WERE FOUND FOR DENSITY BETWEEN TYPE OF FARMERS, AND BETWEEN PERIODS (P < 0.05) FOR FAT, DENSITY AND ASH CONTENTS. IT WAS OBSERVED THAT 6.4% OF SAMPLES WERE ADULTERATED WITH ADDED WATER, WHICH PRODUCED A NEGATIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE PERCENTAGE OF ADDED WATER AND MILK DENSITY (R = 0.9, P < 0.05), PROTEIN AND FAT CONTENTS (R = ""0.9, P < 0.0).