Aetiological agents of necrobacillosis in captive wallabies

In a series of 27 wallabies (Macropus rufogriseus) with necrobacillosis, 14 animals were affected in the face, nine in the leg and six in the internal organs, two being affected in more than one site. Fusobacterium necrophorum was the predominating organism, occurring in 69 per cent of lesions, usually in heavy and occasionally in pure culture. Bacteroides species (six in all), often in considerable numbers, were found in 48 per cent of lesions, and F nucleatum in 14 per cent. Aerobes or facultative anaerobes, usually in small numbers, were present in 59 per cent of lesions. The organisms isolated often varied considerably from one part of the lesion to another.