Identification of species and biotypes of the brucella genus in apparently healthy and aborted ewes and goats in Egypt.

Brucella micro-organisms was absent in the vaginal swabs collected from apparently healthy ewes. Such incidence among the genital tract of aborted ewes was 4.84%. Among goats, brucella species represented 7.04% in aborted goats, while it was recovered in lower percentage (0.92%) from the vaginal swabs of apparently healthy goats. Br. melitensis biotype "3" was the sole species recovered from aborted ewes, while biotypes "3" and "2" could be obtained from clinically healthy and aborted foeti of goats. The predilection seats of brucella in the genital tracts of aborted animals and their foeti were discussed in details.