Bacterial and fungal organisms in the vagina of normal cows and cows with vaginitis

Bacterial and fungal culturing was conducted on samples taken from the vaginal fornix of 106 cows, of which 42 had vaginitis and 64 had normal vaginas. The diagnosis of vaginitis and non-vaginitis samples was determined by histologic examination. Aerobic, anaerobic, and microaerophilic cultures were done. In addition, cultures were performed for Campylobacter sp., Ureaplasma sp., Mycoplasma sp., Tritrichomonas foetus, and fungi. All 106 samples contained mixed aerobic bacterial cultures. The more frequent aerobic isolates included Acinetobacter lwoffii, Arcanobacterium pyogenes, Escherichia coli, Corynebacterium spp., and Streptococcus spp. These organisms were isolated from both groups of cows, but more frequently from the vaginitis group. Anaerobic isolates included Peptostreptococcus spp., Prevotella spp., and Fusobacterium spp. The fungal isolates included Aspergillus sp., Mucor sp., and Penicillium sp.