An experimental comparison of methods for somatic cell count determination in milk of various species of mammals

The goal of this paper was to evaluate the reliability of three different methods used in the determination of somatic cell counts (SCC) in cow (CM), goat (GM), sheep (SM) and human (HM) milks. Direct microscopy (DM), fluoro-opto-electronic (Fossomatic 90) and fluorescent (DCC) methods were compared. The methods used were calibrated with CM. The results obtained with DM, Foss and DCC methods were very close, mostly more than 0.92 (P less than 0.001) for CM, GM and SM. In CM the regression equations between methods were near the ideal form, i.e. y = 1x + 0. The mean differences between the three methods were small for CM, larger for SM and HM and the largest for GM. It is possible to convert all DCC results in SM, HM and GM to DM or Foss method. The conversion equations were stated from DCC as follows: to DM in CM as y = 1.1293x - 5.5029; to Foss in GM as y = 3.603x - 3171.4; to Foss in SM as y = 1.3805x - 18.149; to Foss in HM as y = 2.6246x + 158.63.