IN-VITRO ISOLATION AND CULTIVATION OF COWDRIA-RUMINANTIUM UNDER SERUM-FREE CULTURE CONDITIONS

Three stocks of Cowdria ruminantium, the causative agent of heartwater in domestic ruminants, were propagated in bovine endothelial cells in a serum-free culture medium. The Vosloo, Welgevonden and Senegal stoc ks were propagated for a period of more than 203, 134, and 43 days, re spectively. Two of the C ruminantium stocks (Vosloo and Senegal) were also successfully initiated under serum-free culture conditions. The s erum-free medium consisted of a modified HL-1 medium. The Senegal stoc k was successfully propagated in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium nu trient mixture Ham F-12 containing 10 per cent fetal bovine serum.