Serum and Milk Procalcitonin levels as Early Diagnostic Indicators for Critical, Subclinical, and Clinical Mastitis in Egyptian Nubian Goats

Caprine mastitis is a common and costly disease in dairy goats, especially in Egypt, where ≈ 4.2 million goats are raised. Early detection is critical as the subclinical form is the most common. Procalcitonin is a sepsis‐associated prohormone that rises in bacterial infections. It is unfortunately, goats haven’t been extensively investigated. In this study, we measured Procalcitonin in both serum and milk along with somatic cell count (SCC) and calcium in fifty adult female lactating Egyptian Nubian goats, with an average body weight of (45± 5) kg and an age range of 6–7 years which were grouped into four: control (n=8), critical (n=5), subclinical (n=8), and clinical mastitis (n=29). Our results indicated an increase in vital signs such as temperature, pulse, and respiratory rate in the mastitis group. In addition to the mean corpuscular volume, white blood cell counts, monocytes, and eosinophils were elevated in the clinical group, and monocytes in the subclinical group. There was a decrease in red blood cell, and packed cell volume (PCV) in the subclinical group and in the RBC, hemoglobin, PCV, and platelet in the clinical group. The critical group showed a significant drop in the platelet count. Results showed a stepwise rise in both serum and milk procalcitonin with increasing mastitis severity, while SCC is highly elevated in the clinical cases. We conclude that measuring Procalcitonin levels in serum or milk may contribute in the early detection of critical and subclinical mastitis and aid in the prognosis of severe mastitis in Nubian goats.