http://capridairyworld.org/files/pdf/RUMIN-physico-chem-published.pdf

Physico-chemical characteristics of goat and sheep milk

The increasing utilization of heavy metals in modern industries leads to an increase in the environmental burden. Nickel represents a good example of a metal whose use is widening in modern technologies. As the result of accelerated consumption of nickel-containing products nickel compounds are released to the environment at all stages of production and utilization. Their accumulation in the environment may represent a serious hazard to human health. Among the known health related effects of nickel are skin allergies, lung fibrosis, variable degrees of kidney and cardiovascular system poisoning and stimulation of neoplastic transformation. The mechanism of the latter effect is not known and is the subject of detailed investigation. This review provides an analysis of the current state in the field.

Nickel essentiality, toxicity, and carcinogenicity.

Staphylococci are the main aetiological agents of small ruminants intramammary infections (IMI), the more frequent isolates being S. aureus in clinical cases and coagulase negative species in subclinical IMI. The clinical IMI, whose annual incidence is usually lower than 5%, mainly occur at the beginning of machine milking and during the first third of lactation. These features constitute small ruminant peculiarities compared to dairy cattle. Small ruminant mastitis is generally a chronic and contagious infection: the primary sources are mammary and cutaneous carriages, and spreading mainly occurs during milking. Somatic cell counts (SCC) represent a valuable tool for prevalence assessment and screening, but predictive values are better in ewes than in goats. Prevention is most often based on milking machine management, sanitation and annual control, and milking technique optimisation. Elimination mainly relies on culling animals exhibiting clinical, chronic and recurrent IMI, and on drying-off intramammary antibiotherapy; this treatment allows a good efficacy and may be used selectively by targeting infected udders only. Heritability values for lactation mean SCC scores are between 0.11 and 0.15. Effective inclusion of ewe's mastitis resistance in the breeding goal has recently been implemented in France following experimental and large scale estimations of genetic parameters for SCC scores.

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00902771/document

Mastitis of dairy small ruminants

Milk nutritional composition and its role in human health

https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1214&context=foodsciefacpub

Food processing and allergenicity

Biodiverse and biosustainable production system with goats in Mexico: Importance of a forage bank

Bioactive Components in Buffalo Milk

A new type of cow’s milk, called A2 milk, has appeared in the dairy aisles of supermarkets in recent years. Cows’ milk generally contains two major types of beta-casein as A1 and A2 types, although there are 13 genetic variants of β-casein: A1, A2, A3, A4, B, C, D, E, F, H1, H2, I and G. Studies have shown that A1 β-casein may be harmful, and A2 β-casein is a safer choice for human health especially in infant nutrition and health. The A2 cow milk is reportedly easier to digest and better absorb than A1 or other types of milk. The structure of A2 cow’s milk protein is more comparable to human breast milk, as well as milk from goats, sheep and buffalo. Digestion of A1 type milk produces a peptide called β-casomorphin-7 (BCM-7), which is implicated with adverse gastrointestinal effects on milk consumption. In addition, bovine milk contains predominantly αs1-casein and low levels or even absent in αs2-casein, whereby caprine milk has been recommended as an ideal substitute for patients suffering from allergies against cow milk protein or other food sources. Since goat milk contains relatively low levels of αs1-casein or negligible its content, and αs2-casein levels are high in the milk of most dairy goat breeds, it is logical to assume that children with a high milk sensitivity to αs1-casein should tolerate goat milk well. Cow milk protein allergy (CMPA) is considered a common milk digestive and metabolic disorder or allergic disease with various levels of prevalence from 2.5% in children during the first 3 years of life to 12–30% in infants less than 3 months old, and it can go up to even as high as 20% in some countries. CMPA is an IgE-mediated allergy where the body starts to produce IgE antibodies against certain protein (allergens) such as A1 milk and αs1-casein in bovine milk. Studies have shown that ingestion of β-casein A1 milk can cause ischemic heart disease, type-1 diabetes, arteriosclerosis, sudden infant death syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, etc. The knowledge of bovine A2 milk and caprine αs2-casein has been utilized to rescue CMPA patients and other potential disease problems. This knowledge has been genetically applied to milk production in cows or goats or even whole herds of the two species. This practice has happened in California and Ohio, as well as in New Zealand, where this A2 cow milk has been now advanced commercially. In the USA, there have been even promotions of bulls, whose daughters have been tested homozygous for the A2 β-casein protein.

A2 Bovine Milk and Caprine Milk as a Means of Remedy for Milk Protein Allergy

Therapeutic, Hypo‐Allergenic and Bioactive Potentials of Goat Milk, and Manifestations of Food Allergy

A true dairy goat industry in North America began to evolve about 25 years ago. The U.S. dairy goat population is estimated at 1 million head, and commercial milk production is estimated at 50 million kg. The American Dairy Goat Association and the Canadian Goat Society maintain registrations, sanction shows, conduct type evaluations, and publish production records. About 43,000 new purebred dairy goats are registered annually in the U.S. and Canada. Nubian and Alpine breeds are the most numerous. Dairy sheep production started about 25 years ago. The East Friesian and Lacaune are the major dairy breeds. Two to 2.5 million kg of sheep milk were produced in 2003 from 11 000 to 12 000 ewes in the U.S. and Canada. Many producers produce specialty cheeses on their farm. A majority of the sheep milk for commercial processors is frozen on the farm. The Dairy Sheep Association of North America was established in 2002 to foster the industry.

George F.W. Haenlein

Papers

Biodiverse and biosustainable production system with goats in Mexico: Importance of a forage bank

Bioactive Components in Buffalo Milk

A2 Bovine Milk and Caprine Milk as a Means of Remedy for Milk Protein Allergy

Therapeutic, Hypo‐Allergenic and Bioactive Potentials of Goat Milk, and Manifestations of Food Allergy

Panorama of the goat and sheep dairy sectors in North America