Comparison of Two Bacterial Transport Media for Culture of Tonsilar Swabs from Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis) and Mountain Goats (Oreamnos americanus)

Abstract Duplicate tonsilar swabs were collected from 77 bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) and 19 mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) in Utah. Swabs were refrigerated in bacterial transport medium or frozen in cryopreservation medium prior to bacteriologic culture. The cryopreservation medium yielded comparable or superior bacterial growth while permitting more flexibility in specimen shipment to the laboratory.