Yersinia pseudotuberculosis recovered from the faeces of clinically healthy deer

Authors: Woods EP, Hodges RT, Carman MG
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 32, Issue 5, pp 79, May 1984
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Deer, Livestock, Production animal, Ruminant
Subject Terms: Bacterial, Biosecurity, Disease surveillance, Epidemiology, Alimentary system/gastroenterology, Zoonosis, Infectious disease, Disease/defect, Public health
Article class: Correspondence

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Abstract: A recent paper by Henderson and Hemmingsen reported the recovery of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis from the faeces of 5 of 3810 (0.13%) clinically healthy deer in a national survey conducted on 122 farms. The isolates were obtained from animals on four (3.27%) different farms. The authors concluded on the basis of these results and unpublished data that Y. pseudotuberculosis was only rarely recovered from faeces of healthy deer. We wish to record our experience with a similar but smaller local survey, the results of which are quite different from those of Henderson and Hemmingsen. Faeces samples were collected in late June and in July 1983 from groups of 30-90 red deer (Cervus elaphus) weaners (approximately 6-8 months old) which were reared on 10 farms selected at random from an area within a 50 km radius of Hamilton. A total of 439 samples were examined comprising 30-50 samples per farm. Freshly voided faeces were collected directly from the ground of widely dispersed areas of 0.51.8 ha paddocks onto which the animals had been moved within the preceding 12 hours. Precautions were taken to avoid cross-contamination of samples and contamination with soil. At the laboratory saline, suspensions of the samples were prepared and inoculated onto Yersinia selective agar* and incubated at 30-32°C for 48 hours. Identification of…

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