Recovery and identification of anaerobes in veterinary medicine: A 2-year experience

The examination of 300 specimens over a 2-year period in a veterinary diagnostic laboratory (1975–1977) revealed that of the specimens yielding bacteria, 56.3% contained anaerobes while 71.8% yielded facultative bacteria. Of the total specimens 26.6% proved to be sterile and 4.6% were unsuitable. The anaerobes which were isolated with the highest frequency from diseased animals belonged to the following genera: Clostridium, 46.0%; Bacteroides 15.1%; Fusobacterium, 14.3%; Actinomyces, 11.1%; and Propionibacterium, 5.6%. The culture method used in this study was based upon reducible solid media for primary isolation. Its efficiency compared favorably with what is commonly accepted as an effective recovery rate for anaerobes. However, the relative proportion of anaerobic genera obtained from veterinary clinical specimens was in direct contrast with specimens obtained in medical diagnostic laboratories. Because of this difference and the kinds of anaerobes most frequently encountered in veterinary medicine, it is believed that the culture method used in this study is more suitable to veterinary medicine than other methods more commonly employed in medical diagnostic laboratories.