Coping with climate change in Bangladesh: Developing a safe and profitable water buffalo milk

The purpose of this study is to facilitate the transition from dairy-cow-based milk chain towards a water-buffalo-based dito, in Bangladesh.

Our objectives are to:

• Evaluate the present status of the buffalo milk chain in Bangladesh, from udder to consumer, focusing on udder health, handling practices and milk production. Identify risk factors and best practices for better milk quality and safety.
  
• Evaluate the presence of typical foodborne pathogens in buffalo milk such as Brucella and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Identify measures to control their transmission in a One Health approach.
  
• Model the effect of a transition from a dairy-cow-based milk chain towards a water-buffalo-based milk chain, with a special focus on epidemiology.
  
• Design and implement a transition strategy towards a water buffalo milk chain, using stakeholders’ inputs and the previously collected information

This four-year study will be carried out as one PhD and four MSc projects, and will include traditional prevalence studies based on milk and aninal sampling, risk factor analyses and mathematic and epidemilogical modelling. The project will be led by one researcher from Sweden and one from Bangladesh.

The overarching goal of this proposal is to map the milk related disease status of water buffaloes in Bangladesh and see whether transition to a water buffalo dairy chain is sustainable, profitable, and holds healthier animals and humans in a ONE HEALTH perspective.

Publications

Occurrence and aetiology of subclinical mastitis in water buffalo in Bangladesh (2021)

The prevalence and risk factors of subclinical mastitis in water buffalo (Bubalis bubalis) in Bangladesh (2023)

Factors influencing somatic cell counts and bacterial contamination in unpasteurized milk obtained from water buffalo in Bangladesh (2023)

Pathogen group-specific risk factors for intramammary infection in water buffalo (2023)

Thesis

Water buffalo milk chain in Bangladesh (PhD Thesis in Epidemiology) by Dr. Shuvo Singha (2023)