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Witherell K, White L, Shaw L, Tomassini L, Eckstrand C, Nelson D, McConnel CS, Burbick CR. Utility of postmortem bacterial culture of abdominal organs at autopsy of young calves. J Vet Diagn Invest 2023; 35:182-186. [PMID: 36772787 PMCID: PMC9999389 DOI: 10.1177/10406387231152576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Postmortem bacterial culture is controversial in human medicine, and veterinary-specific research in this area is lacking. To address this knowledge gap, we cultured liver, kidney, and spleen individually from on-farm calf mortalities to determine the number of bacterial species present, concordance between organ cultures, and agreement with gross and histologic findings. We hypothesized that the spleen, a filtering organ, would be the most useful organ with the least amount of postmortem contamination given that it does not have a direct conduit to a bacterial population. Fresh liver, kidney, and spleen were collected for culture from 30 calves 5-28-d-old with various causes of mortality. Bacterial growth of ≥2 species was observed in ~48% of cultures, with Escherichia coli and Streptococcus spp. being most frequent. One bacterial species was present in 20% of cultures, with E. coli predominating. No growth was observed in ~32% of cultures. In 43% of cases, there was agreement in the culture results for all 3 organs; however, the majority were mixed bacterial growth. The best agreement was observed when there were no gross and/or histologic septic lesions in target organs and no bacterial growth on culture. The spleen was not helpful in determining bacterial significance in comparison to kidney or liver.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaitlin Witherell
- Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | - Laura White
- Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
- Departments of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | - Lisa Shaw
- Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | - Letizia Tomassini
- Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | - Chrissy Eckstrand
- Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
- Departments of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | - Danielle Nelson
- Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
- Departments of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | - Craig S. McConnel
- Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | - Claire R. Burbick
- Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
- Departments of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
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