Abstract

Sixteen genera of bacteria were isolated in varying frequencies from the skins of normal and disease afflicted live sheep and goats in Nigeria.

These were: Clostridium spp., Bacillus spp., Staphylococcus spp., Streptococcus spp., Micrococcus spp., Aerococcus spp., Actinobacillus spp., Gamella spp., Lactobacillus spp., Acinetobacter spp., Klebsiella spp., Listeria spp., Neisseria spp., Corynebacterium spp., Erysepelothrix spp., and Pseudomonas spp. Only one Streptococcus appeared on normal sheep skin. Bacillus spp., seemed more like the normal flora on the skins. Clostridium spp., appeared most frequently; both on normal and diseased skins – appearing more on the latter and giving fillip to its being considered to be a near universal pathogen – skin residents becoming opportunistic with trauma. These caused ante-mortem damage to the skin and leather; ultimately turning them into rejects. The study helps us to recommend effective animal husbandry with adequate prophylactic measures for Nigerian livestock, thus stemming serious economic losses.