Study of Somatic Cell Count in Milk of Pregnant and Non-Pregnant Buffaloes

Sixty nine samples of milk from apparently healthy buffaloes in early, middle and late lactation stages were collected and 21samples of normal milk from apparently healthy pregnant buffaloes in early and late stages were collected. All samples were from South of Capital Baghdad areas and were stained with Newman-Lampert stain and the somatic cells count was recorded for each sample. The results revealed that there is a range between 370000 and 1540000 cells/ ml in all lactation stages, while in early and late of pregnancy stages, the range is between 1700000 and 5800000 cells/ ml. There are no significant differences among the somatic cell counts in early, middle and late non-pregnant lactation stages. In pregnancy stages there was a highly significant difference (P≤ 0.01) between the early and the late stages, and all non-pregnant lactation stages. In the lactation stage SCC was low due may be to high production of milk, while in late stage was high due may be to decrease in the milk production and the effect of hormones during pregnancy. In conclusion, somatic cell count (SCC) in buffaloes’ milk may play an important role in the defense mechanism of the body against mastitis agents.