Isolation and Identification of Microorganisms from the Upper Respiratory Tract of Equines in Himachal Pradesh

The present investigation was conducted to identify different bacterial agents associated with the respiratory infections of equines in the submountaineous region of Himachal Pradesh. Nasal swabs were collected from a total of 119 animals, including horses (n=59) and mules (n=60), exhibiting respiratory disease manifestations (n=20) as well as apparently healthy animals (n=99); and subjected to routine cultural, staining and biochemical examinations for the identification of the isolated bacteria. The bacterial genera thus isolated and identified included Staphylococcus spp. 12 (38.71%), Corynebacterium spp. 6 (19.35%), Bacillus spp. 3 (9.68%), Streptococcus spp. 2 (6.45%), Micrococcus spp. 2 (6.45%), Pseudomonas sp. 1 (3.23%) and others 5 (16.13%) from the 15 samples from diseased equines; and Staphylococcus spp. 83 (44.62%), Corynebacterium spp. 30 (16.13%), Bacillus spp. 33 (17.74%), Micrococcus spp. 12 (6.45%), Streptococcus spp. 6 (3.23%) and others 22 (11.83%) from the 81 samples from apparently healthy animals, whereas, 23 samples were bereft of any bacterial growth. Further speciation of Staphylococcus spp., Corynebacterium spp. and Bacillus spp. was also carried out by means of biochemical tests.