Examination of lochia as an aid to the early diagnosis of bovine brucellosis.
The standard technique for diagnosing bovine brucellosis is the serological examination of blood samples. As affected females may excrete large numbers of the Brucella organism in the lochia, the bacteriological and smear examination of such material appeared to be a suitable alternative for early diagnosis. Of the lochia samples collected from 210 cows and heifers within 12-24 h after parturition or abortion, 10.9% were bacteriologically positive. Only 70% of these could be diagnosed correctly as positive by microscopic examination. This technique also resulted in 3.3% false negative and 1.4% false positive diagnoses. Results of the serological examinations of blood, collected simultaneously with the lochia samples, correlated fairly well with those obtained microscopically. Culture of lochia samples on a suitable medium appears to be the method of choice, when dealing with the early diagnosis of bovine brucellosis.
D000818:Animals; D002003:Brucella abortus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002007:Brucellosis, Bovine / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002417:Cattle; D005260:Female; D012698:Serologic Tests; D014626:Vaginal Smears / Q000662:veterinary*