Duct-level evaluation of mammary gland health, somatic cell count and bacterial flora in lactating jennies

Dataset Title Dataset: Duct-level evaluation of mammary gland health, somatic cell count and bacterial flora in lactating jennies ⸻ Authors Attili A.R., Gallina E.T., Storoni C., Massacci F.; Bazzano M., Duranti A.; Li Y.; Cuteri V. Corresponding author: Prof. Vincenzo Cuteri School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine University of Camerino, Italy vincenzo.cuteri@unicam.it ⸻ Dataset Description This dataset contains duct-level milk analysis results from a cross-sectional observational study conducted on 29 clinically healthy lactating jennies from six farms located in Central Italy (Umbria and Lazio regions). Each jenny was sampled at the individual duct level. Milk was collected separately from: • Right Lateral Duct (RLD) • Right Medial Duct (RMD) • Left Lateral Duct (LLD) • Left Medial Duct (LMD) A total of 116 duct-level samples were analysed. The study aimed to evaluate mammary gland health by integrating: • Somatic cell count (SCC) • Bacteriological culture with MALDI-TOF identification • Total bacterial count (TBC) • Selected host-related variables Study Design Non-randomised observational cross-sectional study. Milk sampling was performed under routine farm management conditions. No experimental treatments were administered. ⸻ Variables Included in the Dataset Animal-Level Variables • Animal_ID Anonymised identification code for each jenny. • Farm_ID Anonymised farm code. • AgeCat Age category (as defined in manuscript). • ParityCat Parity category. • LactStage Lactation stage: • 1 = 0–3 months • 2 = 4–6 months • 3 = 7–9 months • Aptitude Production aptitude (milk production or companion). ⸻ Duct-Level Variables • Duct Sampling site: • RLD = Right Lateral Duct • RMD = Right Medial Duct • LLD = Left Lateral Duct • LMD = Left Medial Duct • SCC Somatic cell count expressed as cells/mL. Determined using the direct microscopic method (Breed and Prescott). • SCC_cat_200k Exploratory categorical variable: • 0 =