Mastitis is one of the most serious and costly diseases
affecting dairy cow production (Heringstad et al., 2000).
Measurement of the somatic cell count (SCC) in raw milk is
widely accepted as the most useful indirect indicator of
mastitis and milk quality. SCC actually only can be counted
in laboratories. To achieve a faster, but less accurate result,
some farmers use a simple, inexpensive, cow-side test,
known as the California Mastitis Test (CMT) (Schalm et al.,
1957), to provide a qualitative estimate of SCC in the
foremilk of individual cows or quarters. CMT is an indirect
method to detect infected quarters on the farm based upon
the reaction of special detergents with DNA of somatic cells
and increasing the viscosity of the mixture which is
proportional to the SCC, and an evaluation of the degree of
gel formation is done by gently rotating CMT paddle.
However, the interpretation can be subjective, and this
might result in false positives and negatives.
