Pig and goat blood as substitutes for sheep blood in blood-supplemented agar media

In many developing countries sheep and horse blood, the recommended blood s upplements in bacteriological media, are not readily available, whereas pig and goat blood are, Therefore, this study examined the use of pig and goat blood as potential substitutes for sheep blood in blood-supplemented bacte riologic media commonly used in clinical microbiology laboratories. In gene ral, the growth characteristics and colony morphologies of a wide range of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria and Candida albicans were similar on media c ontaining pig, goat, and sheep blood, although differences were found. Ente rococcus sp, uniformly produced alpha-hemolysis when incubated in CO2, but in anaerobic conditions the hemolysis varied. In contrast, beta-hemolytic s treptococci produced identical hemolytic reactions on all three media, Syne rgistic hemolysis was not observed on pig blood agar in the CAMP test nor o n goat blood agar in the reverse CAMP test. The preparation of chocolate ag ar (heated) with pig blood required heating to a higher temperature than wi th sheep or goat blood to yield suitable growth of Haemophilus species. In general, we conclude that pig and goat blood are suitable alternatives to s heep blood for use in bacteriological media in settings where sheep and hor se blood are not readily available.