Hygienic status of raw ewe's milk

ABSTRACT

Thirty samples of ewe's milk collected from apparently healthy ewes in the North Western Coastal Desert of Egypt, were examined microbiologically. The mean acidity% was 0.14% while the mean values of total bacterial count, coliforms, fecal coliforms, staphylococci, yeasts and molds were 8.2 x 10 4, 6.2 x 10 2, 2.4 x 10 2, 1.3 x 10 3, 4.1 x 10 2 and 6 x 10 ml, respectively. Escherichia coli, Enterobacter cloacae, Ent. agglomerans, Klebsiella oxytoca, Kl. pneumoniae, Citrobacter freundii, Staphylococcus aureus and Staph. epidermidis could be isolated with percentage varied from 10.1% to 20%. Suggestive control measures for improving the hygienic quality of ewe's milk were discussed