International Journal of Multidisciplinary and Current Educational Research (IJMCER) ISSN: 2581-7027 ||Volume|| 3 ||Issue|| 3 ||Pages 339-345 ||2021|| | Volume 3 | Issue 3 | www.ijmcer.com | 339 | Evaluation of Bacterial Contamination and Heavy Metal Composition of Raw Milk Collected from Cattle Settlement Farms in A Nigerian Community Ebere J. Okafor-Elenwo 1 , Odaro S. Imade 1 , *Osazee E. Izevbuwa 1 and Victory Jumbo 1 1 Department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural and Applied Sciences, Igbinedion University Okada, Edo State, Nigeria Corresponding author: osazee.izevbuwa@iuokada.edu.ng ABSTRACT: Milk is often prone to contamination due to its rich nutritional composition that favors microbial growth, thus, necessitating that its removal from cattle and subsequent processing should be done in strict compliance to standard hygienic best practices. Hence this study was conducted to evaluate the microbiological quality of raw milk collected by farmers in cattle settlement farms situated in Okada and environs, Ovia North- East local government area, Edo State, Nigeria to ascertain their compliance to standard best hygienic practices. Total heterotrophic bacteria counts (HPC) and total Coliform counts (TCC) in the raw milk samples were measured by the pour plate technique. Isolated bacteria were then identified with phenotypic techniques. The concentration of heavy metals in the raw milk was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The concentration of cadmium, lead, zinc, copper, nickel and chromium in the raw milk samples were estimated at 0.03 mg/L, 0.05 mg/L, 2.50 mg/L, 0.18 mg/L, 0.004 mg/L and 0.022 mg/L respectively and were within permissible levels. Overall mean HPC of the raw milk samples was estimated at 43.93 ± 2.42 CFU/mL while mean TCC was estimated at 0.00 ± 0.00 CFU/mL across all sampling locations. The mean HPC and TCC values of the raw milk samples were found to be within the recommended limi ts (HPC ≤ 20000 CFU/mL; TCC ≤ 10 CFU/mL) stipulated by the United States Food and Drug Administration, thus, indicating that the contamination levels were within the limits for the raw milk to be accepted by milk processors for further processing. The isolated bacteria were identified as coagulase-negative Staphylococcus species, S. aureus, Bacillus and Enterobacter species. The raw milk samples were found to be significantly contaminated with Staphylococcus species (frequency of occurrence = 61.25%) in relation to the other isolated bacteria, thus, confirming the poor sanitary practices of the farmers who collect and handle raw milk in the cattle settlement farms situated in Okada and environs, Ovia North-East local government area, Edo State, Nigeria. Since this present study revealed that the farmers do not significantly comply with the high sanitary requirements needed for the collection of raw milk, it is recommended that the relevant government agencies educate the farmers on standard hygiene practices that are required for raw milk collection. I. INTRODUCTION The demand for livestock products in developing countries has rapidly increased as a result of population and income growth, as well as urbanization (Delgado, 2003). Annual milk consumption in the developing countries averaged 3.5 to 4.0% between 1995 and 2005, and is expected to increase further by 2020. Therefore, the dairy sector could serve as a powerful tool for reducing poverty and creating wealth in developing countries, if properly managed (Yilma et al., 2011). Total annual milk production is estimated to be 1.65 billion liters. Of these 86% comes from the traditional sector. In many African countries marketing of milk is traditional and informal. In Tanzania, these markets handle 80–90% of the locally produced milk and less than 10% of milk produced in the country is marketed as processed milk. In these systems of marketing, milk is commonly rural to rural and a few rural to direct sales to urban consumers (Swai andchoonman, 2011; Bingi and Tondel, 2015). These market pathways provide social and economic benefits to smallholder producers, agents and consumers in terms of competitive market prices and creation of employment. Therefore, they are difficult to abolish. However, there are neither regulations nor control of products in these markets and the consumption of raw milk and milk products from such markets may cause health risks. Being a nutritious food, milk serves as an ideal medium for the growth and multiplication of various microorganisms (Swai andchoonman, 2011; Singh et al., 2020). Moreover, milk is a highly perishable commodity and, therefore, poor handling of milk can exert both public health risks and economic losses. Thus, milk requires hygienic handling all the way from production to consumption. The risks of poor milk handling are linked to contamination of milk, growth and survival of harmful pathogens in the milk and increasing number of other micro-organisms caused by storage time and conditions such as temperature and