Aerobic Bacterial Flora of Conjunctival Sac in the Healthy Iranian Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)

This study was aimed to identify the normal aerobic bacterial flora of the conjunctiva in the Iranian water buffalo and to determine the effect of gender, age and ecotype variations on the flora. Fifty healthy Iranian water buffalos (33 females, 17 males), aged 1-15 years, of four different ecotypes-Azeri, Mazandarani, Khuzestani and Guilani were selected and divided into 4 age groups. Swabs were taken from the inferior conjunctival sac of both eyes (n = 100) and cultured on blood and MacConkey agar in aerobic condition. Forty seven buffalos out of 50 (94%) were positive for bacteria; 44/50 (88%) had positive culture from both eyes. The most frequent isolates were Staphylococcus sp., Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus. Statistical analysis did not show significant difference in frequency of isolates between sexes, ecotypes and age groups (p>0.05). A correlation was found between the buffalo age and number of species isolated per eye (p<0.01). In this study Dermatophilus congolensis and Edwardsiella tarda were reported for the first time in the conjunctiva of animals. Gram-positive aerobes were most commonly cultured from the conjunctival sac of healthy water buffalos.