Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Why throat swab tests may miss bacteria in dogs with aspiration
By Vientós-Plotts, Aida et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·2026·College of Veterinary Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Diagnostic limitations of oropharyngeal swab cultures and inconsistent presence of secondary bacterial infection in canine aspiration pneumonia.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 30 dogs diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia (AP) showed symptoms like coughing and fever, often after vomiting or regurgitating. The study found that swabs taken from the throat (oropharyngeal swabs) often showed more bacteria than samples taken from the lungs (bronchoalveolar lavage fluid), with most bacteria from the throat not being present in the lungs. Interestingly, many of these dogs did not have a secondary bacterial infection, which means they might not need antibiotics. This suggests that vets should be cautious when interpreting throat swab results for treating aspiration pneumonia.
People also search for: dog coughing after vomiting · aspiration pneumonia in dogs treatment · dog fever and cough antibiotics
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: In dogs with aspiration pneumonia (AP), our objectives were to determine whether oropharyngeal (OP) swab isolates would match bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) isolates and determine the frequency of secondary bacterial infection (SBI) in AP by use of 4 definitions. METHODS: 30 client-owned dogs with clinical diagnosis of AP (cough or fever, and radiographic alveolar pattern with historical vomiting or regurgitation) with OP and BALF cultures were prospectively enrolled from 2019 to 2023. Exclusion criteria included antimicrobial administration within 14 days of presentation or inability to undergo BALF collection. Definitions of SBI included (1) positive BALF culture (noncontaminant), (2) veterinary criteria (septic inflammation in BALF or nonseptic inflammation with positive culture having ≥ 1.7 × 103 CFU/mL), (3) human criteria (> 7% of cells with intracellular bacteria or positive culture with ≥ 104 CFU/mL), and (4) clinical recovery without antimicrobials. RESULTS: All OP and 16 of 30 BALF cultures were positive, yielding a median of 4 organisms (range, 1 to 6 organisms) and 1 organism (range, 0 to 3 organisms), respectively, with significantly more positive OP isolates. Most OP isolates (91%) were not recovered from BALF. Absence of SBI was documented in 30% to 77% of dogs with AP, depending on definition. CONCLUSIONS: OP swabs were polymicrobial, with most organisms (91%) not present in BALF. Many dogs with AP did not meet 1 or more definitions of SBI. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Using OP cultures as surrogates for BALF cultures was inappropriate for dogs with AP. Not all dogs with AP had SBI, necessitating further study of when antimicrobial therapy could be avoided versus when it is warranted.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42019547/