Identification of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus in the prepuce, semen, and vulvar secretions of swine Identifica o de Escherichia coli e Staphylococcus aureus no prepúcio, sêmen e secre es vulvares de suínos

In successful artificial insemination (AI) programs, it is critical that AI studs produce high-quality semen samples. Samples presenting bacterial contamination reduce in vitro sperm quality and also act as vehicles for disease transmission. The objective of this study was to identify the presence of bacteria contaminants in the vulvar secretion of inseminated sows and in semen and preputial secretion of the boars used as semen donors and to relate such presence with clinical findings. Three crossbred F1 boars and 15 sows from a commercial swine farm were evaluated. The microorganism isolated from the vulva, prepuce and sperm were submitted to biochemical and stain characterization. One of the evaluated boars presented clinical signs of genital infection. From the five sows inseminated with semen from such boar, three returned to estrus after AI and two presented purulent vulvar discharge. Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were the agents isolated from the samples. Simultaneous contamination with both agents was observed in two boars and in 20% of the sows. The presence of E. coli as a single contaminant was only observed in females (13%), whereas the presence S. aureus alone was observed in both sexes. The presence of pathogens in the examined samples suggests that it might be responsible for the low reproductive performance in the herd. Para alcan ar o sucesso dos programas de insemina o artificial (IA), é fundamental que a produ o de doses de sêmen de alta qualidade para IA. Amostras que apresentam contamina o bacteriana reduzem a qualidade do ejaculado in vitro e também atuam como veículo para a transmiss o de doen as. O objetivo deste estudo foi identificar a presen a de bactérias contaminantes na secre o vulvar de porcas inseminadas e no sêmen e a secre o prepucial de machos reprodutores utilizados como doadores de sêmen e relacionar esta presen a de contaminantes com os achados clínicos. Foram avaliados três machos e 15 fêmeas suínas da linhagem F1 provenientes de uma cria o comercial. Os microorganismos isolados da vulva, prepúcio e ejaculados foram enviados para a realiza o de testes biquímicos e caracteriza o das amostras. Um dos reprodutores avaliado apresentou sinais clínicos de infec o genital. Das cinco porcas inseminadas com sêmen destes machos, três retornaram ao estro após a IA e duas apresentaram descarga vulvar purulenta. Os agentes isolados das amostras foram Escherichia coli e Staphylococcus aureus. A contamina o simultanea de ambos os agentes foi observada em dois cacha os e em 20% das porcas. A presen a de E. co