BACTERIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF HEMOPHILUS-EQUIGENITALIS TAYLOR 1978, THE CAUSATIVE ORGANISM OF CONTAGIOUS EQUINE METRITIS 1977

  • 1 January 1980
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 11  (3) , 289-299
Abstract
The cultural, biochemical, antigenic and antibiotic susceptibility characteristics of 17 strains of H. equigenitalis, the causative organism of contagious equine metritis (CEM), were studied. Biochemical characteristics were investigated using both conventional method and the API ZYM system of enzyme detection. The biochemical profile of the H. equigenitalis strains was unique and differed from the other bacterial species studied under the same experimental conditions (H. influenzae and H. parainfluenzae, Brucellus abortus and B. melitensis, Pasteurella multocida, Acinetobacter calcoaceticus). The required X and V factors were never demonstrated and thus the placement of H. equigenitalis in Haemophilus is disputable. This species presented an antigenic homogeneity and exhibited no cross-reaction with the other strains tested in this study. Antibiotic susceptibility was studied by diffusion test and MIC [minimal inhibitory concentration] determination. The strains were suceptible to all antibiotics with the exception of clindamycin, lincomycin and streptomycin. The streptomycin resistance was inconstant.