{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,26]],"date-time":"2026-07-26T10:00:29Z","timestamp":1785060029038,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"Wiley","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,26]],"date-time":"2026-07-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785024000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,26]],"date-time":"2026-07-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785024000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Equine Veterinary Journal"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Assessing mammary gland health in donkeys is challenging due to the lack of species\u2010specific diagnostic criteria for subclinical mastitis. Although somatic cell count (SCC) is widely used in dairy ruminants, its diagnostic value in jennies remains unclear. Each donkey teat contains two anatomically independent duct systems, potentially influencing microbial distribution.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To evaluate mammary gland health at the individual duct level in lactating jennies by assessing SCC, bacteriological findings, and total bacterial count (TBC), and to investigate associations with host\u2010related factors.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Study Design<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Non\u2010randomised cross\u2010sectional observational study.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Milk samples were collected separately from the medial and lateral ducts of both teats (four ducts per animal) in 29 clinically healthy lactating jennies (116 samples). SCC was determined by direct microscopic count; bacteriology was performed with MALDI\u2010TOF identification. TBC was expressed as CFU\/mL. SCC and TBC were log\n                      <jats:sub>10<\/jats:sub>\n                      \u2010transformed prior to mixed\u2010effects linear regression, with animal as a random effect.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Using an exploratory threshold of \u2265200,000 cells\/mL, increased SCC was detected in few ducts and was not consistently associated with bacteriological positivity. Median SCC and TBC were low but highly skewed. Bacteriological positivity occurred in 62.1% of jennies, mainly involving environmental and opportunistic microorganisms. Marked microbiological heterogeneity was observed between ducts within the same gland. Lactation stage (4\u20136\u2009months) was associated with increased SCC (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009&lt;\u20090.05), whereas age, parity, and use were not consistently associated. An apparent association between younger age and higher TBC was not maintained after excluding one outlier. No significant correlation was found between SCC and TBC.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Main Limitations<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Small sample size, uneven age distribution, cross\u2010sectional design, and absence of differential cell counting.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Clinically healthy lactating jennies showed generally low SCC and bacterial loads, but duct\u2010level sampling revealed substantial intra\u2010gland heterogeneity. SCC showed limited concordance with bacteriology, supporting the need for donkey\u2010specific mastitis criteria.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1002\/evj.70228","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,26]],"date-time":"2026-07-26T09:16:19Z","timestamp":1785057379000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Duct\u2010level evaluation of mammary gland health, somatic cell count and bacterial flora in lactating jennies"],"prefix":"10.1002","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9085-7125","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anna Rita","family":"Attili","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine University of Camerino  Matelica Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elisa Tsaheylu","family":"Gallina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Local Health Authority, Prevention Department Animal Health and Farm Hygiene Unit  Viterbo Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-1064-3514","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chiara","family":"Storoni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine University of Camerino  Matelica Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6331-6684","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fulvio","family":"Laus","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine University of Camerino  Matelica Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7235-6300","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesca Romana","family":"Massacci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale Umbria e Marche \u2018Togo Rosati\u2019  Perugia Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0874-6304","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marilena","family":"Bazzano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine University of Camerino  Matelica Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7392-9193","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anna","family":"Duranti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale Umbria e Marche \u2018T. Rosati\u2019  Ancona Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8533-5015","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yubao","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Food Engineering Liaocheng University  Liaocheng Shandong China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9536-3506","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vincenzo","family":"Cuteri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine University of Camerino  Matelica Italy"},{"name":"School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Food Engineering Liaocheng University  Liaocheng Shandong China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_14_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodres.2025.116307"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3168\/jds.2006-600"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10911-020-09471-2"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3168\/jds.2012-6298"},{"issue":"1","key":"e_1_2_14_6_1","first-page":"361","article-title":"Milk yield and somatic cell count in dairy donkeys","volume":"3","author":"Martuzzi F","year":"2004","journal-title":"Ital J Anim Sci"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tifs.2023.03.020"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S0022029910000221"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4081\/ijas.2009.s2.691"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3168\/jds.2023-23848"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/10406387211027306"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4081\/ijfs.2016.5951"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fochx.2025.102995"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fvets.2021.743725"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3168\/jds.2008-1248"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_16_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fnut.2024.1404998"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_17_1","first-page":"215","volume-title":"Milk protein","author":"Polidori P","year":"2012"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_18_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/dairy3020019"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_19_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3168\/jds.2014-8544"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_20_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.idairyj.2019.04.009"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_21_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/infdis\/7.5.632"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_22_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0958-6946(02)00120-6"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_23_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1051\/animres:2003049"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_24_1","volume-title":"Laboratory handbook on bovine mastitis","author":"National Mastitis Council","year":"2017"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_25_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.smallrumres.2006.09.014"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_26_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S002202992300078X"}],"container-title":["Equine Veterinary Journal"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1002\/evj.70228","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1002\/evj.70228","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1002\/evj.70228","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,26]],"date-time":"2026-07-26T09:16:20Z","timestamp":1785057380000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/evj.70228"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,26]]},"references-count":25,"alternative-id":["10.1002\/evj.70228"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/evj.70228","archive":["Portico"],"relation":{},"ISSN":["0425-1644","2042-3306"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0425-1644","type":"print"},{"value":"2042-3306","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,26]]},"assertion":[{"value":"2026-03-04","order":0,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2026-06-29","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2026-07-26","order":3,"name":"published","label":"Published","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}}],"article-number":"evj.70228"}}