BACTERIAL AND FUNGAL ORGANISMS IN THE VAGINA OF NORMAL COWS AND COWS WITH VAGINITIS A Thesis by JAMES ROSS HUSTED

Bacterial and Fungal Organisms in the Vagina of Normal Cows and Cows with Vaginitis. (December 2003) James Ross Husted, B.S. Texas A&M University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. R. Bruce Simpson Previous studies on infections of the reproductive tract in various animal species have focused on uterine and cervical infections. This study defined the bacterial flora from the vaginal fornix of 110 cows, with 55 exhibiting clinically healthy vaginas, and 55 demonstrating vaginitis. Aerobic, anaerobic, microaerophilic, and fungi cultures were done. In addition, cultures were performed for Campylobacter sp., Ureaplasma sp., Mycoplasma sp. and Tritrichomonas foetus. All 110 vaginal samples contained mixed aerobic bacterial cultures. The most frequent aerobic organisms isolated were Acinetobacter lwoffii, Arcanobacterium pyogenes, Escherichia coli, Corynebacterium spp., and Streptococcus spp. These organisms were isolated in both sampling groups, but more frequently from the vaginitis samples. Anaerobic isolates included Peptostreptococcus spp. and Prevotella spp. Ureaplasma sp., Mycoplasma sp., and Tritrichomonas fetus were not isolated in this study. There were not any true microaerophilic organisms isolated. Fungal isolates included Aspergillus sp., Mucor sp., and Penicillium sp. The clinical diagnosis of vaginitis was confirmed by histological results in 35 (64%) of the vaginitis samples.