Yes, it sure is! The pH level of our moisturisers is balanced to 5.5, which is similar to human skin. Essentially, pH can be measured from 0 to 14 depending on how acidic or alkaline a substance is. Since our skin sits at a pH of about 5.5, it’s slightly acidic. Healthy skin can retain moisture, maintain a robust microbiome and keep irritants away. We of course want to support this, so using creams that are pH balanced to match our skin is one of the best ways to do this. Lima SF, Teixeira AG, Lima FS, Ganda EK, Higgins CH, Oikonomou G, Bicalho RC. The bovine colostrum microbiome and its association with clinical mastitis. J Dairy Sci. 2017;100:3031–42. Dohoo I, Smith J, Andersen S, Kelton D, Godden S, Workers’Conference MR. Diagnosing intramammary infections: Evaluation of definitions based on a single milk sample. J Dairy Sci 2011;94:250–61. Callahan BJ, McMurdie PJ, Rosen MJ, Han AW, Johnson AJA, Holmes SP. DADA2: high-resolution sample inference from Illumina amplicon data. Nat Methods. 2016;13:581–3.

Gonçalves JL, Kamphuis C, Martins CMMR, Barreiro JR, Tomazi T, Gameiro AH, Hogeveen H, Santos MV dos. Bovine subclinical mastitis reduces milk yield and economic return. Livest Sci. 2018;210:25–32.Elmoslemany AM, Keefe GP, Dohoo IR, Jayarao BM. Risk factors for bacteriological quality of bulk tank milk in Prince Edward Island dairy herds. Part 2: Bacteria count-specific risk factors. J Dairy Sci. 2009;92:2644–52. Once it is identified, it is important to identify the severity of mastitis as this is crucial in determining what treatment to give.

Skin can react in a variety of ways after undergoing radiation therapy, including itchy, flaky, red, swollen, tight, dry, rashes and blistering. Our Skin Milk Udder Cream is a lightweight formula that suits all skin types and can be applied to skin with all these symptoms. When caring for skin during and after treatment, we think it’s best to look for natural, gentle, hydrating products that aren’t loaded with too many ingredients as the skin can be hypersensitive during this time. You should also try to avoid any products made with cheap preservatives like Parabens and Phenoxyethanol, as well as penetration enhancers, phthalates etc. Of course, we don’t use any of these ingredients. Our Skin Milk Udder Cream is made with nourishing oils like Sweet Almond, Olive and Rice Bran Oil, as well as Aloe Vera to provide soothing relief to inflammation, and the Milk Protein helps to restore and rebuild skin elasticity. Pantoja JCF, Reinemann DJ, Ruegg PL. Associations among milk quality indicators in raw bulk milk. J Dairy Sci. 2009;92:4978–87. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2009-2329. Sex of farm owner, experience in dairying, education level, training on hygienic milk production, material of milk utensil and udder/teat drying were not related to TBC, CC, CPS or the presence of S. aureus in bulk milk in univariable regression analysis. Multivariable regression analysis of risk factors associated with milk quality indicators and occurrence of S. aureus in bulk milk Mhone TA, Matope G, Saidi PT. Aerobic bacterial, coliform, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus counts of raw and processed milk from selected smallholder dairy farms of Zimbabwe. Int J Food Microbiol. 2011;151:223–8. The study was conducted in Asella, Arsi zone, Oromia regional state, Ethiopia. Asella is located at a latitude and longitude of 7°57ˈN and 39°7ˈE, respectively. Asella is the capital of Arsi zone and is located 175 km southeast of Addis Ababa in a highland plateau region at an elevation of 2430 m above sea level. Asella is categorized as having a subtropical highland climate with an annual mean rainfall and temperature of 1100 mm and 15.47 °C, respectively. The area experiences a bimodal rainfall pattern, with a short rainy season occurring during March and April and a long rainy season extending from June to September [ 35]. Arsi zone, especially Asella area, has a conducive climate for rearing specialized dairy breeds [ 34]. The area was where the first small-scale dairy development was initiated in Ethiopia in collaboration with Swedish government [ 36]. According to the Central Statistical Agency [ 37], Arsi zone has a cattle population of 2,904,201, which is the largest from the zones of the Oromia region. The zone has 692,724 heads of cows and 154,961cross breed cows. Study design and sampling technique

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Millogo V, Sjaunja KS, Ouédraogo GA, Agenäs S. Raw milk hygiene at farms, processing units and local markets in Burkina Faso. Food Control. 2010;21:1070–4. Piepers S, Zrimšek P, Passchyn P, Vliegher S De. Manageable risk factors associated with bacterial and coliform counts in unpasteurized bulk milk in Flemish dairy herds. J Dairy Sci. 2014;97:3409–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.3168/jds.2013-7203. Tigabu E, Asrat D, Kassa T, Sinmegn T, Molla B, Gebreyes W. Assessment of risk factors in Milk contamination with Staphylococcus aureus in urban and Peri-urban small-holder dairy farming in Central Ethiopia. Zoonoses Public Health. 2015;62:637–43. https://doi.org/10.1111/zph.12199.

Intramammary drugs tend to be best for single quarter mild mastitis, while systemic treatment is better for more severe cases or multiple quarter infection. Ningxia Key Laboratory of Ruminant Molecular and Cellular Breeding, School of Agriculture, Ningxia University, Yinchuan, China Council Directive 92/46/EEC. Laying down the health rules for the production and placing on the market of raw milk, heat- treated milk and milk-based products. 2004. Factors associated with the occurrence of S. aureus in farm bulk milk in the univariable logistic regression analysis were age of the farm owner ( P = 0.032), sex of the milker ( P = 0.058), barn cleanliness ( P = 0.003), cow cleanliness ( P = 0.003), udder cleanliness ( P = 0.002), milk utensil hygiene ( P = 0.004), herd size ( P = 0.197) and season ( P = 0.079). Reta MA, Bereda TW, Alemu AN. Bacterial contaminations of raw cow’s milk consumed at Jigjiga City of Somali regional state, eastern Ethiopia. Int J Food Contam. 2016;3:4. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40550-016-0027-5.The geometric mean of CPS in bulk milk in the present study was 2.97 log cfu/ml, which is with in the EC limit for raw cow's milk. Raw cow’s milk intended for direct human consumption must have S. aureus count of < 2,000 cfu/ml, which makes milk in 32% of studied farms unsafe for raw consumption [ 47]. This may present a risk for staphylococcal food poisoning, as raw milk is widely consumed in Ethiopia [ 29, 30, 31]. Nearly comparable CPS was reported in Greece [ 70], while a higher count was reported in other parts of Ethiopia [ 55, 71, 72] and Brazil [ 15]. However, lower counts were reported from Ireland [ 49] and Portugal [ 73]. In the final model, CPS was significantly higher in teats cleaned with cold water than in those cleaned with warm water, and this agrees with a previous report [ 49]. Adequate premilking teat sanitation reduces the load of bacteria on teats and ensures the production of high-quality milk [ 7, 12]. This study aimed to investigate the temporal dynamics of the microbiota in the bovine udder. The ten cows used for this purpose were divided in two groups based on the level of SCC before the first sampling. Five of the cows (L1–L5) had a stable low SCC (< 100,000 SCC/mL) on the three days leading up to the first sampling, while the remaining five cows (H1–H5) had a higher SCC (> 100,000 SCC/mL) in the same period. Quarter milk samples were collected from all ten cows at six samplings during a period of five months (January to May). Of the 240 quarter samples that were collected, six were missing during collection and were not included in the analysis. To study the microbial composition of the 234 remaining samples, amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes were performed for all the samples. The average depth of sequencing was 49,093 sequences per sample before filtering and 18,880 sequences per sample after filtering. In total 9132 high quality SVs were obtained from 234 samples. 14 samples were filtered out of the analysis because they did not pass the quality filtering of the Dada2 pipeline used to analyse the 16S data after sequencing. Of the 9,132 high quality SVs, 6962 SVs were used for taxonomy search, and 553 SVs were successfully assigned to family level. 61 quarter samples were classified as having an IMI based on definition “A” from Dohoo et al. [ 23]. This definition states that a quarter sample where > 10 colonies are cultured per 0.1 mL is defined as having an IMI. Eighty-nine percent of these were from group H and 11% were from group L. A limit of 100,000 SCC/mL was selected to classify the quarter samples as high or low SCC during samplings. 30 quarter samples had high SCC, 204 low SCC, and 6 samples had no recorded SCC. Of the 30 samples with a recorded high SCC, 93% were from group H and 7% from group L. Other additional data about the health, parturition, and recorded mastitis were retrieved from the Norwegian Cattle Health Recording System (Additional file 1). No cows were recorded to have mastitis during the sampling period, while two cows (L1 and H2) were treated for mastitis caused by Streptococcus dysgalactiae and Streptococcus uberis, respectively, after this period. The samplings occurred between 19 and 193 days in milk for the 10 cows (Additional file 2). This period encompasses the early and mid-lactation stages. Five of the cows (H4, H5, L3, L4, L5) were in their first parturition, while the remaining five (H1, H2, H3, L1, L2) were in their second parturition. Diversity analysis of the quarter samples Hohmann M, Wente N, Zhang Y, Krömker V. Bacterial load of the teat apex skin and associated factors at herd level. Animals. 2020;10:1647. Fig 3: The main milking plant filter should not be used as a method of mastitis detection Conductivity

The first is easier than the second. Mild mastitis can often disappear in a few days with no treatment or with massage and hand stripping of the quarter. However the bacteria may still be there. The same process may also occur after antibiotic treatment, particularly short courses with short milk withholds. Getting a visible cure without a complete bacteriological cure may result in an increase in subsequent clinical infections and a permanently raised SCC. Asiimwe BB, Baldan R, Trovato A, Cirillo DM. Prevalence and molecular characteristics of Staphylococcus aureus, including methicillin resistant strains, isolated from bulk can milk and raw milk products in pastoral communities of South-West Uganda. BMC Infect Dis. 2017;17:1–8.Moderate mastitis : Changes in the udder are detectable as well as changes in the milk. These changes can occur slowly or rapidly. There may be small systemic changes such as reduction in feed intake. Observation and palpation of the udder is essential but tends to detect only later or more severe mastitis cases.