The informal milk value chain in Uganda controls most of the raw marketed milk, albeit of poor quality. A study was conducted to assess the milk handling practices, the bacterial quality and the associated health concerns of raw milk along the informal milk value in Nakasongola District. The cross-sectional study used both qualitative and quantitative methods to obtain information from key players. The qualitative data was categorized and presented into emerging themes. Bacterial contamination of 200 milk samples was determined by morphological and biochemical tests. The antibiotic susceptibility test was done by the disc diffusion method. Hand milking was carried out mainly by men (92.5%), and most never or rarely practised hand washing (67.5%) during milking. Milk was mainly delivered to mobile milk-collecting centres located under tree shades (50%). The quality of raw milk was affected by poor hygienic, handling and transportation practices. Most participants (75%) were aware of the dangers of drinking raw milk and the requirements to transport milk in metallic cans. Viable bacterial counts above the recommended limit were recorded in 76 samples (38%) that included Staphylococcus aureus (46%), coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (29%), Escherichia coli (12%), Streptococcus agalactiae (8%) and Salmonella spp. (5%). The overall antibiotic resistance was 45% (34/76), which included resistant isolates of S. aureus (17/34), coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (11/22), S. agalactiae (3/6), Salmonella spp. (2/4) and E. coli (2/9). The raw milk contaminated with antibiotic drug-resistant bacterial pathogens is of public health concern. Thus, measures to improve the quality of milk need to be designed for the pastoral community in Nakasongola district.

中文翻译：

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乌干达Nakasongola区牛奶价值链中的牧民社区实践，微生物质量以及相关的生牛奶健康风险

乌干达的非正式牛奶价值链控制着大部分生鲜牛奶，尽管质量很差。进行了一项研究，以评估中松哥拉地区沿原始牛奶价值的原始牛奶的处理方式，细菌质量以及相关的健康问题。横断面研究使用定性和定量方法从关键参与者那里获取信息。定性数据被分类并呈现为新兴主题。通过形态学和生化测试确定了200个牛奶样品的细菌污染。通过纸片扩散法进行抗生素敏感性试验。挤奶主要由男性（92.5％）进行，挤奶过程中绝大部分没有洗手（67.5％）。牛奶主要运送到位于树荫下（50％）的移动式牛奶收集中心。生牛奶的质量受到不良卫生，搬运和运输习惯的影响。大多数参与者（75％）意识到饮用生乳的危险以及在金属罐中运输乳汁的要求。在包括金黄色葡萄球菌（46％），凝固酶阴性葡萄球菌（29％），大肠杆菌（12％），无乳链球菌（8％）和沙门氏菌（Salmonella spp）在内的76个样本（38％）中记录了超过建议限值的存活细菌数。（5％）。总体抗生素耐药性为45％（34/76），其中包括金黄色葡萄球菌（17/34），凝固酶阴性葡萄球菌（11/22），无乳链球菌（3/6），沙门氏菌的耐药菌株。（2/4）和大肠杆菌（2/9）。受到抗生素抗药性细菌病原体污染的原奶引起了公众健康的关注。因此，需要为中松哥拉地区的牧民设计提高牛奶质量的措施。