Haemolytic strains of Actinobacillus equuli

Authors: Murphy S, Hughes KL
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 20, Issue 6, pp 102, Jun 1972
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Horse, Livestock
Subject Terms: Bacterial, Disease/defect, Infectious disease, Reproduction, Reproduction - male, Oral/teeth
Article class: Correspondence

---

Abstract: In our experience, strains of Actinobacillus equuli showing clear haemolysis on sheep blood agar are not uncommonly isolated following the culture of swabs obtained from faeces, discharges or lesions of horses, and these may sometimes be recovered in mixed culture with non-haemolytic A. equuli. In bacterial identification it is important to assess how strains may differ before they cease to be the same species or become variants. Owing to the heterogeneity of individuals in a colony, the concept of speciation is not particularly suited to bacterial taxonomy. It is doubtful whether the ability of A. equuli to produce haemolysis should be weighted more than the ability to ferment any one carbohydrate or to urea utilizaltion…

---