Microbiological Quality of Goat Milk in Degahbur District of Jarar Zone, Somali Regional State, Ethiopia

A cross-sectional study was carried out to evaluate microbiological quality of raw goat milk in Degahbur district of Jarar zone, Somali Regional State, Ethiopia. A total of 40 pooled raw goat milk samples (each with a volume of 450 mL) were collected from the udders and milk handling equipment of targeted goat milk producers in the study area. The milk samples were subjected to laboratory analysis to evaluate total bacterial count (TBC) and total coliform count (TCC) in order to determine the microbiological quality of the raw goat milk in the study area. The study showed that the mean total bacterial count (TBC) and total coliform count (TCC) for raw milk samples collected from the udder were 4.92 ± 0.23 and 2.68 ± 0.36 log10 cfu·mL-1, respectively. The mean counts for samples collected from milk equipment were 5.61 ± 0.32 and 3.93 ± 0.21 log10 cfu·mL-1 for TBC and TCC, respectively. The values for the samples collected from pastoral production system were 5.63 ± 0.13 and 4.02 ± 0.20 log10 cfu·mL-1 for TBC and TCC, respectively. The average means of TBC and TCC for samples collected from the agro-pastoral production system were 4.9 ± 0.41 and 2.59 ± 0.37 log10 cfu·mL-1, respectively. Significant difference (P 0.05) in mean TBC and TCC was observed between milk samples collected from pastoral and agro-pastoral production systems as well as milk samples collected from udders and milk handling equipment of the producers. It could be concluded that both TBC & TCC of goat milk samples collected from the udder as well as from the milk handling equipment of producers exceeded the acceptable limits. This indicated that production practices performed during milk production and postharvest handling in the study area were unhygienic. Therefore, hygienic and proper milk production procedures should be followed to improve the quality of goat milk for its intended use in the study area.