Abstract
A total of 575 samples of raw milk from tank lorries (193 samples), dairy farms (150), individual cows (68) on three farms and individual teats (164) of cows on four farms was examined quantitatively for Staphylococcus aureus. The incidence of S. aureus in raw milk increased from cow teats (13.4%), through individual cows (51.5%) and dairy farms (34.7%) to the final step in tank lorries (94.3%). The population of S. aureus, however, did not vary significantly along the chain of milk distribution from the dairy farm to the milk plant. Fifty-two (36.6%) of the 142 strains isolated from raw milk produced one or more enterotoxins. Types VII (27.5%), II (22.5%) and III (18.3%) were dominant among coagulase types I through VIII.
