THE WISCONSIN MASTITIS TEST – AN INDIRECT ESTIMATION OF LEUCOCYTES IN MILK1

Abstract

A simple, rapid screening test for mastitis in bulk samples has been described. The test is based on the observation that an increase in leucocytes is accompanied by an increase in viscosity when a detergent reagent is mixed with a milk sample. The viscosity is determined by measuring the height of a column of milk-reagent mixture remaining in a test tube after a 15-sec outflow through a cap having an orifice 1.2 mm dia. The results of this method correlate well with the square root of the leucocyte count (correlation coefficient equals 0.91).