Decontamination of Bovine Fecal and Environmental Samples Aimed to Culture Mycobacterium Paratuberculosis in Liquid Media: A Narrative Review

Culture of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis (MAP) is the definitive antemortem test for the confirmation of paratuberculosis.The culture process involves three steps: decontamination, incubation in a culture medium promoting MAP growth, and identification of MAP, either by phenotypic or genotypic methods.MAP culture can be done either in solid or liquid media, but MAP growth is faster in liquid.However, noninterpretable results due to the overgrowth of other microorganisms are more commonly observed in liquid media.MAP growth and identification are more complicated if other microorganisms overgrow the media.The aim of this review was to assess the methodologic evidence of the effect of decontamination protocols on the growth of irrelevant microorganisms (contamination) in liquid media used in the culture of MAP from bovine fecal and environmental samples.