Dairy

A dairy is a facility for the extraction and processing of animal milk (mostly from cows, sometimes from buffaloes, sheep or goats) for human consumption. The end product of such processes are known as dairy products. In Australia a dairy is also a shop or company that sells dairy products. In New Zealand a dairy is a shop selling convenience-food products. A dairy farm produces milk and a dairy factory processes it. Over the years, Dairy has become a multibillion-dollar industry.

Diseases associated with the dairy industry

• Leptospirosis is one of the most common debilitating diseases of milkers, made somewhat worse since the introduction of herringbone sheds because of unavoidable direct contact with bovine urine
• Cowpox is one of the helpful diseases; it is barely harmful to humans and tends to innoculate them against other poxes such as chickenpox
• Tuberculosis (TB) is able to be transmitted from cattle, mainly via milk products that are unpasteurised and many dairy-producing families consume milk that way. In the important dairy exporting countries TB has been eradicated from herds by testing for the disease and culling suspected animals
• Brucellosis is a bacterial disease transmitted to humans by dairy products and direct animal contact. In the important dairy exporting countries Brucellosis has been eradicated from herds by testing for the disease and culling suspected animals
• Listeria is a bacterial disease associated with unpasteurised milk and can affect some cheeses made in traditional ways. Careful observance of the traditional cheesemaking methods achieves reasonable protection for the consumer