Study suggests that milk ring test can be done on samples with Bronopol

Maria Luiza De Grandi, journalist at Ciência Rural, Santa Maria RS, Brazil. 

Guilherme Nunes de Souza, researcher at Embrapa Gado de Leite, Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease caused by bacteria of the genus Brucella SP and can be transmitted to humans through direct contact (handling) or indirect contact (consumption of unpasteurized dairy foods) with production animals, such as cattle, cows, sheep, buffaloes, and pigs, among others or through contact with companion animals (dogs). 

The milk ring test (MRT) is one of the ways used to identify the disease at the dairy herd level.  In this context, researchers from Universidade Presidente Antônio Carlos – Campus Juiz de Fora (UNIPAC), in partnership with Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), evaluated whether MRT can be used on milk samples with a preservative (Bronopol®) collected for somatic cell counting (SCC) used in mastitis monitoring. 

The results showed that there was no interference from Bronopol® on the color when reading the MRT, suggesting that the same milk samples could be used to monitor mastitis and brucellosis. The article Ring test in milk samples preserved with Bronopol® was published in Ciência Rural (volume 53, no. 1).

Image: Pixabay.

Thirty-eight milk samples from cooling tanks from artisanal Minas cheese-producing properties were analyzed using the milk ring test, recommended by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA). “The research identified that milk samples routinely collected by milk processing industries for CCS and component analyzes can also be used to monitor brucellosis without any interference from the preservative Bronopol, thus facilitating the logistics of collecting these samples”, explains Juliana Mendonça, one of the study’s authors.

The unprecedented research in the area comes to help the producer’s life by facilitating the logistics of collecting samples for brucellosis surveillance on dairy properties through the use of samples routinely collected for CCS and component analyzes in the laboratories of the Brazilian Milk Quality Network without compromising the test results. “The results help to develop a proposal to improve brucellosis surveillance on dairy properties through the use of samples routinely collected on properties for other analyses without compromising the results”, concludes Juliana.

To read the article, access

MENDONÇA, J.F.M., et al. Ring test in milk samples preserved with Bronopol®. Cienc. Rural [online]. 2023, vol. 53, no. 1, e20210647 [viewed 15 December 2023]. https://doi.org/10.1590/0103-8478cr20210647. Available from: https://www.scielo.br/j/cr/a/37BRjYcgr5kLmKjxccS4FFw/ 

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