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 supplements 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 bacteriologic media commonly used in clinical microbiology laboratories. In general, the growth characteristics and colony morphologies of a wide range of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria and Candida albicans were similar on media containing pig, goat, and sheep blood, although differences were found. Enterococcus sp. uniformly produced alpha-hemolysis when incubated in CO(2), but in anaerobic conditions the hemolysis varied. In contrast, beta-hemolytic streptococci produced identical hemolytic reactions on all three media. Synergistic hemolysis was not observed on pig blood agar in the CAMP test nor on goat blood agar in the reverse CAMP test. The preparation of chocolate agar (heated) with pig blood required heating to a higher temperature than with sheep or goat blood to yield suitable growth of Haemophilus species. In general, we conclude that pig and goat blood are suitable alternatives to sheep blood for use in bacteriological media in settings where sheep and horse blood are not readily available.