1.2 Types of specimens submitted for bacterial isolation

Animal health laboratories should be able to process of a wide range of specimens for bacterial culture.

Activity 3: Types of specimen

Timing: Allow about 5 minutes

Make notes on the types of specimen that are sent to your microbiology laboratory for bacterial culture. Compare your response with the sample answer.

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Answer

Your laboratory may receive some or all of the following specimens.

  • Sick animals or whole carcasses submitted for necropsy
  • Visceral organs
  • Tissue
  • Body fluids: milk, urine, blood/serum/plasma, synovial/pleural fluid
  • Faeces
  • Swabs from body secretions/fluids
  • Scrapings (skin; tissue)

An example of the range of specimens processed by animal diagnostic laboratories can be found on this website [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .

1.1 Reasons to submit clinical specimens for bacterial isolation and identification

1.3 Selecting specimens for submission