Application of Infrared Thermography as a Determinant of Sub-Clinical Mastitis in Sapera Dairy Goats

Abstract

Application of infrared thermography (IRT) sensing results versus somatic cell count (SCC) and mastitis test reagent from Bogor Agricultural University (IPB-1) was evaluated in this study for infection detection in dairy goats with subclinical mastitis. Eight Sapera dairy goats with a 35-40 kg live weight were evaluated throughout their lactation. The parameters observed including milk production, physicochemical characteristics, SCC, IPB1, and IRT sensing in the udder. The collected data were analysed using MIXED and CORR procedures from SAS. Results showed that the physicochemical characteristic of milk (fat, non-fat solids, lactose, protein, freezing point, pH), SCC and IRT were significantly different (P0.05), especially the test results for mastitis between normal and +3. The average production of goat milk with a normal until +2 mastitis test score during lactation was 1.281±253 ml/day, while a mastitis test score of +3 was 957±250 ml/day. A positive correlation was found in both the left and right udder of IPB1-SCC (r=0.70-0.74), IPB1-IRT (r=0.70-0.71), and SCC-IRT (r=0.62-0.65). This is substantial evidence that combining IRT results with SCC and IPB1 parameters can be valuable for screening subclinical mastitis in dairy goats.