In this study, 644 raw milk samples were collected from various milk sources of Khartoum state during May 2003 till April 2004. Using the API kits, both coagulase positive and negative Staphylococci (CPS and CNS) were identified. Most of the CPS isolates were Staphylococcus aureus, while the majority of CNS were Staphylococcus epidermidis. 23.8% of the samples were found to be positive to both CPS and CNS while 33.7% of the samples were negative to both CPS and CNS. Forty one percent of CPS isolates was found to be S. aureus and 39% of CNS were S. epidermidis. The coagulase positive Staphylococci (CPS) were determined in 45% of the tested samples while coagulase negative Staphylococci (CNS) were found in 44.7% of them, of which 16.5% exceeded the recommended bacterial safety limits for CPS. The highest of the samples that exceeded this limit was found in vendor milk samples (19.4%) while the market milk was 18.4%.

 

Key words: Staphylococci, bovine, raw, milk, Sudan.