Diagnosis of Tritrichomonas foetus infection in bulls using two sampling methods and a transport medium

Preputial exudates were collected from 3 bulls infected with Tritrichomonas foetus by scraping the mucosa with a specially designed instrument and by aspiration. For diagnostic purposes the scraping method was superior direct microscopic examination but both methods were equally good when the samples were cultured within 2 hours of collection. The organism remained viable in a transport medium for 24, 48 and 72 hours showing a lineal decrease in viability with time which was more than 3 times greater in samples aspirated than in samples scraped.