Incidence of aflatoxin M in cows' milk in Pakistan, effects on milk quality and evaluation of therapeutic management in dairy animals.

The present study was aimed at measuring the concentration of aflatoxin M (AFM) in the milk of Holstein Friesian cows, its effect on the milk quality and seasonal trends, as well as to investigate the efficacy of a commercial clay-based toxin binder. For this purpose, milk samples from dairy cows ( = 72) were collected and assayed for AFM before employing a clay-based toxin binder. The milk samples ( = 72) were collected from selected animals, revealing that 69.4% of the milk samples had AFM levels above the United States permissible limit (0.5 μg/kg). The incidence of AFM in milk during the winter and summer was 82.5% and 53.1%, respectively. Owing to the presence of AFM, the level of milk fat, solids-not-fat, and protein were found to be low. Subsequently, the affected animals were divided into two groups, i.e., AFM positive control ( = 10) and the experimental group ( = 40). The experimental group of animals were fed the clay-based toxin binder at 25 g/animal/day. A progressive decrease of 19.8% in the AFM levels was observed on day 4 and on day 7 (53.6%) in the treatment group. Furthermore, the fat, solids-non-fat and protein increased significantly in the milk. In conclusion, a high level of AFM contamination occurs in the milk in Pakistan, affecting the quality of the milk production. Clay-based toxin binders may be used to ensure the milk quality and to protect the animal and consumer health.