European Commission. Corrigendum to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004. Laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin. Off J Eur Union. 2004:22–82. OPEDC. Oromiya Planning & Eonomic Development Commission. National Regional State of Oromiya. Physical and socio-economic profiles of 180 districtsof Oromiya Region. 4th Ed. Finfinne; 2016. Ayele Y, Gutema FD, Edao BM, Girma R, Tufa TB, Beyene TJ, et al. Assessment of Staphylococcus aureus along milk value chain and its public health importance in Sebeta, Central Oromia, Ethiopia. BMC Microbiol. 2017;17:1–7. The hygiene of the cows was evaluated based on the visual cleanliness scores described by Schreiner and Ruegg [ 39]. Evaluation was performed in the legs, flanks, abdomen, and udder of each animal. Score 1 (VC) indicates very clean, score 2 (C) indicates clean, score 3 (D) indicates dirty, and score 4 (VD) indicates very dirty. Farms were considered clean if the number of milking cows with cleanliness scores of VC and C were equal to or more than 50% of the total milking cows in the herd and taken as dirty if the number of milking cows with cleanliness scores of D and VD were equal to or more than 50% of the total milking cows in the herd. Udder scoring followed the scoring system described by Schreiner and Ruegg [ 39], where score 1 was free of dirt, score 2 was slightly dirty (2–10% of surface area), score 3 was moderately covered with dirt (10–30% surface area) and score 4 was covered with caked on dirt (> 30% of surface area). Enumeration of contaminating bacteria The determination of the microbiological quality and safety of raw milk and the associated influencing factors at the farm level is very critical given that the quality or safety of subsequent products that are further produced depends on this. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the microbiological quality and safety of bulk milk and identify associated risk factors, and assess the presence/absence of S. aureus in bulk milk with potential contaminating sources in dairy farms in Asella, Ethiopia. Results

Amenu K, Wieland B, Szonyi B, Grace D. Milk handling practices and consumption behavior among Borana pastoralists in southern Ethiopia. J Health Popul Nutr. 2019;6:1–12. Because we make our products for our families, we have a strict ingredient philosophy that excludes ingredients like Parabens, Phenoxyethanol and penetration enhancers. The first is easier than the second. Mild mastitis can often disappear in a few days with no treatment or with massage and hand stripping of the quarter. However the bacteria may still be there. The same process may also occur after antibiotic treatment, particularly short courses with short milk withholds. Getting a visible cure without a complete bacteriological cure may result in an increase in subsequent clinical infections and a permanently raised SCC. Marshall JC, Soboleva TK, Jamieson P, French NP. Estimating bacterial pathogen levels in New Zealand bulk tank milk. J Food Prot. 2016;79:771–80.

Author Contributions

Lima SF, Teixeira AG, Lima FS, Ganda EK, Higgins CH, Oikonomou G, Bicalho RC. The bovine colostrum microbiome and its association with clinical mastitis. J Dairy Sci. 2017;100:3031–42.

The study was conducted in Asella, Arsi zone, Oromia regional state, Ethiopia. Asella is located at a latitude and longitude of 7°57ˈN and 39°7ˈE, respectively. Asella is the capital of Arsi zone and is located 175 km southeast of Addis Ababa in a highland plateau region at an elevation of 2430 m above sea level. Asella is categorized as having a subtropical highland climate with an annual mean rainfall and temperature of 1100 mm and 15.47 °C, respectively. The area experiences a bimodal rainfall pattern, with a short rainy season occurring during March and April and a long rainy season extending from June to September [ 35]. Arsi zone, especially Asella area, has a conducive climate for rearing specialized dairy breeds [ 34]. The area was where the first small-scale dairy development was initiated in Ethiopia in collaboration with Swedish government [ 36]. According to the Central Statistical Agency [ 37], Arsi zone has a cattle population of 2,904,201, which is the largest from the zones of the Oromia region. The zone has 692,724 heads of cows and 154,961cross breed cows. Study design and sampling technique

Fig 1: Stripping milk onto a dark surface before milking the cow is a simple and effective method of early mastitis detection Examining the udder Taponen S, McGuinness D, Hiitiö H, Simojoki H, Zadoks R, Pyörälä S. Bovine milk microbiome: a more complex issue than expected. Vet Res. 2019;50:1–15. Over a long period of time both of these types of mastitis can persist, leading to chronic inflammation and damage in the udder ( chronic mastitis).

Cortimiglia C, Luini M, Bianchini V, Marzagalli L, Vezzoli F, Avisani D, Bertoletti M,Ianzano A,Franco A,Battisti A. Short Report. Prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus and of methicillin-resistant S. aureus clonal complexes in bulk tank milk from dairy cattle herds in Lombardy Region (Northern Italy). Epidemiol Infect. 2016;144:3046–51. Tarekgne E, Skeie S, Rudi K, Skjerdal T, Narvhus JA. Staphylococcus aureus and other Staphylococcus species in milk and milk products from Tigray region, Northern Ethiopia. Afr J Food Sci. 2015;9:567–76. Heikkilä A-M, Liski E, Pyörälä S, Taponen S. Pathogen-specific production losses in bovine mastitis. J Dairy Sci. 2018;101:9493–504.Oliveira CJB, Júnior WDL, Queiroga RCRE, Givisiez PEN, Azevedo PS, Pereira WE, Gebreyes WA. Risk factors associated with selected indicators of milk quality in semiarid northeastern Brazil. J Dairy Sci. 2011;94:3166–75. ISO 6888-3:2004. Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — horizontal method for the enumeration of coagulase-positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other species) — part 3: detection and MPN technique for low numbers. Geneva: International Organization for Standardization; 2004. Intramammary drugs tend to be best for single quarter mild mastitis, while systemic treatment is better for more severe cases or multiple quarter infection. Yes, it sure is! The pH level of our moisturisers is balanced to 5.5, which is similar to human skin. Essentially, pH can be measured from 0 to 14 depending on how acidic or alkaline a substance is. Since our skin sits at a pH of about 5.5, it’s slightly acidic. Healthy skin can retain moisture, maintain a robust microbiome and keep irritants away. We of course want to support this, so using creams that are pH balanced to match our skin is one of the best ways to do this.

Piepers S, Zrimšek P, Passchyn P, Vliegher S De. Manageable risk factors associated with bacterial and coliform counts in unpasteurized bulk milk in Flemish dairy herds. J Dairy Sci. 2014;97:3409–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.3168/jds.2013-7203. Two consecutive petri dishes with colony counts between 30 and 300 per plate were considered for TBC, while plates that contained 10–100 and 15–300 colonies were considered for CC and CPS, respectively. Then, the bacterial count in the respective original sample was expressed as the number of colony forming units per ml (cfu/ml) of samples according to ISO 7218:2007 [ 43]. Isolation and identification of Staphylococcus aureus Lin H, Peddada SD. Analysis of compositions of microbiomes with bias correction. Nat Commun. 2020;11:1–11. Marcondes MI, Jácome DC, Lopes A, Rennó N, Rennó LN, Clarissa A. Evaluation of raw milk quality in different production systems and periods of the year. R Bras Zootec. 2014;43:670–6.ISO 6888-1:1999. Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — horizontal method for the enumeration of coagulase-positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other species) — part 1: technique using Baird-Parker agar medium. Geneva: International Organization for Standardization; 1999. In line with our findings, dirty barns [ 50], dirty cows [ 5, 56] and soiled udder and teats [ 16] were reported to be associated with increased CC in bulk milk. In this study, the use of warm water to clean teats was related to low CC. Similarly, a study conducted in Irish dairy herds reported an association between the use of heated water in the milking parlor and low bacterial counts [ 49]. The use of hot water is indicated to enhance washing efficacy [ 10]. CC is found to be significantly higher in peri-urban areas than in urban areas. This could be attributed to soil barn floor that can easily get muddy and low awareness on hygienic milk production practices. Staphylococcus aureus is a major cause of bovine mastitis [ 20], resulting in large economic losses due to reduced milk production and quality [ 21]. S. aureus is frequently isolated from cows with mastitis [ 22, 23, 24, 25] and bulk milk [ 26, 27, 28] in Ethiopia. The presence of S. aureus in bulk milk samples indicates that infected cows are present in a herd [ 9]. The public health concern due to staphylococcal food poisoning is potentially serious in Ethiopia due to widespread raw milk consumption habits [ 29, 30, 31]. S. aureus produces enterotoxins that cause food poisoning when ingested in contaminated food. Milk and milk products are frequently implicated in staphylococcal food poisoning [ 32].