An evaluation of a hand-held electrical resistance meter for the diagnosis of bovine subclinical mastitis in late lactation under Australian conditions

Abstract

Objective: To assess the ability of a hand-held device to differentiate between infected and noninfected bovine mammary glands according to the electrical resistance of milk, under Australian conditions. Design: A cross-sectional study. Procedure: Milk samples were collected from 236 quarters of 60 cows selected from a commercial dairy herd with a high prevalence of mastitis. The true infection status of these quarters was determined using bacteriology. Various methods were used in an attempt to relate the electrical resistance of milk from each quarter to the presence or absence of infection in that quarter. Results: Although the electrical resistance of milk from infected quarters was gene..