Antibiotics residue in raw milk samples from four regions of Kosovo

Xhavit Ramadani, Blerta Mehmedi, Agim Rexhepi, Skender Muji

Abstract: Antibiotic residues are often present in raw milk and have a negative impact on human health. This study took place in four regions of Kosovo during four months (September, October and December 2015, and January 2016). Residues of antibiotics in milk were determined using the standard microbiological methods called Delvotest SP and SNAP test which is an enzyme-linked, receptor binding assay. Out of 1055 analysed milk samples during 2015 and 2016 in different areas of Kosovo, 106 samples (10%) were identified with antibiotic residues. The results showed large variations between weeks during the research, clearly favoring the fourth week of January 2016, with much smaller number of residues of antibiotics in fresh milk (0.4%). The highest number of residues is registered in the first week of September (2.1%). Identification of positive samples (10%) in different areas of Kosovo, is a great concern that must be taken into consideration to determine the reason for the high percentage of positive samples. Further studies are neccessary to be done.

Keywords: antibiotic residues; detection method; milk

Date published: 2018-11-02