[Are nasal swabs for swine appropriate for the diagnosis of bacterial pneumonia agents?].
Nasal swabs and lungs of 150 pigs with pneumonia were tested by culture at post mortem examination. The isolated agents were Pasteurella multocida (P.m.), P. haemolytica, Bordetella bronchiseptica, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus spp. and Escherichia coli. P.m. was most frequently found, and this agent only showed a significant correlation between lungs and nasal swabs. In 80.6% of pigs with P.m. in the lung the agent was detected in the nose, too. Drug resistance patterns of P.m. isolates from lungs and noses of the single animals were identical or similar, also in case of different capsular types. The examination of porcine nasal swabs for bacteria capable of causing pneumonia should be limited to P. multocida. Demonstration of agents in lung material is generally more certain.