The efficacy of bacteriological procedures for the isolation of Brucella abortus from abattoir material.

A process of emulsifying and centrifuging abattoir specimens before plating out is described. Brucella abortus was isolated more successfully by this process than by conventional methods, especially in low grade infections. The 5 different media used were equally effective in our attempts at isolation, but growth did not necessarily occur on all 5 plates. In dairy cows, specimens from supra-mammary lymph nodes, udder and iliac lymph nodes accounted for a high percentage of positive isolations.