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Normal bacterial flora from vaginas of Criollo Limonero cows

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Abstract

In order to describe the normal bacterial flora in vaginas of Criollo Limonero cows, 51 healthy multiparous cows, at least 90-day postpartum, were selected. Duplicated swabs (N = 102) were taken from the vaginal fornix of cows to perform aerobic and anaerobic cultures as well as conventional biochemical tests. Out of 102 swabs, bacterial growth was obtained in 55 (53.9%) while the remaining 47 (46.1%) did not exhibited any bacterial growth. Of the 55 bacterial growths, 23 (41.8%) were aerobic whereas 32 (58.1%) were anaerobic. Likewise, 29 (52.72%) of bacterial growths were pure and 26 (47.27%) were mixed. Under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions, Gram positive bacteria were predominant (81.82% and 73.08%, respectively) over Gram negative bacteria (18.18% and 26.92%, respectively). Isolated bacteria were Arcanobacterium pyogenes (22.92%), Staphylococcus aureus (15.63%), Staphylococcus coagulase negative (17.71%), Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae (6.25%), Bacteroides spp. (13.54%), and Peptostreptococcus spp. (7.29%). In conclusion, normal vaginal bacterial flora of Criollo Limonero cows was predominantly Gram positive and included A. pyogenes, S. aureus, coagulase negative Staphylococcus, E. rhusiopathiae, Bacteroides spp., and Peptostreptococcus spp. In Criollo Limonero cattle, adaptive aspects such as development of humoral and physical mechanisms for defense, and bacterial adaptation to host deserve research attention.

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Acknowledgment

This study is conducted under cooperative agreement between Estación Carrasquero-INIA and Unidad de Investigaciones Zootécnicas (FCV-LUZ). The authors thank CONDES-LUZ for the Economic support; Drs. Antonio Landaeta-Hernández, Gabriela Carruyo (UNIZ-FCV-LUZ), Armando Hoet (Ohio State University), and Peter Chenoweth (Charles Sturt University) for kind review; and Drs. Merilio Montero, Juan C. Gutiérrez, Germán Portillo, and Claudio Fuenmayor for computer and field assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agrícolas (INIA). Estación Local Carrasquero, Unidad de Investigaciones Zootécnicas (UNIZ-FCV-LUZ), Maracaibo, Zulia, Venezuela

    Sunny Zambrano-Nava

  2. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad del Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela

    Julio Boscán-Ocando & Jexenia Nava

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  1. Sunny Zambrano-Nava
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  2. Julio Boscán-Ocando
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  3. Jexenia Nava
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Correspondence to Sunny Zambrano-Nava.

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Zambrano-Nava, S., Boscán-Ocando, J. & Nava, J. Normal bacterial flora from vaginas of Criollo Limonero cows. Trop Anim Health Prod 43, 291–294 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-010-9701-4

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