Milk somatic cell count: From conventional microscope method to new biosensor-based method

Milk somatic cell count (SCC) refers to the concentration or density of somatic cells in milk, which is a standard to measure the physiological health of dairy cows, milk quality and safety, and also an important indicator for the international judgment of invisible mastitis. Therefore, it is of great value to measure the SCC of milk speedy and precisely for monitoring the udder health of dairy cows and ensuring the quality and yield of milk. This paper reviews research progress on SCC in terms of the necessity of SCC detection, acceptable SCC limits in different countries, factors affecting SCC, conventional methods of SCC and the development of integrated state-of-the-art biosensor-based SCC methods. Among them, biosensor-based methods are highlighted for review due to the advantages of low cost, fast detection speed, high sensitivity and applicability to on-site detection, and future development trends are discussed.