Evaluation of conjunctival bacterial flora in a herd of goats in the Midwestern United States

AbstractObjectiveTo identify conjunctival bacterial flora in healthy adult and newborn kid goats in the Midwestern United States and to compare vaginal and ocular surface flora in dam‐kid pairs.Animals studiedThirty mixed‐breed (crosses between Boer, Kiko, and Syfan Spanish) goats, 20 adult does and 10 newborn kids.ProceduresOne eye of 15 adult goats (n= 15 eyes) and 5 kids (n= 5 eyes) was randomly selected. A subset of 5 adults (n= 10 eyes) and 5 kids (n= 10 eyes) underwent bilateral sampling. Each recently kidded dam's vaginal canal (n= 10) was also sampled. Two swabs were collected from each sample site for aerobic bacterial culture andMycoplasmaandChlamydiaspp.PCR.ResultsOf the animals with positive cultures, Staphylococcus and Streptococcus were the most common bacterial genera from the conjunctival sac of adult (16/17; 94%) and kid (5/5; 100%) goats; three adults and 5 kids had no growth of bacteria on aerobic culture.Moraxella bovoculiwas the most common single bacteria in adults, in 9 eyes (36%) of 8 animals (40%).Staphylococcus equorumwas identified in all 5 kids with positive cultures.Mycoplasmasp.DNAwas detected in 7 animals.Chlamydiasp.DNAwas not detected in any sample. Four of 10 dam‐kid pairs had identical bacteria isolated from the dam's vaginal sample and the kid's conjunctival sample.ConclusionsStaphylococcus and Streptococcus were the most common conjunctival bacterial genera in this goatherd.Moraxella bovoculiwas the most common single bacteria isolated from adults, andStaphylococcus equorumwas the most common bacteria in kids.Mycoplasmasp. occurred infrequently at the ocular surface of adult and kid goats. A convincing association between dam‐kid vaginal–conjunctival samples was not identified.