*3.1.2. Mycobacterium sp.*

or by contamination of the ejaculate through inadequate hygiene of the person collecting, di‐ rect contact with animal's feces or even the use of contaminated diluents. Several agents such as viral or bacterial, may be present in semen or may contaminate it after ejaculation.

Naturally, the pig' fresh semen contains approximately 104 to 105 bacteria/ml [16]. Al‐ though those bacteria are not pathogenic, they present spermicidal effect, especially when they are present at high concentrations [17]. To aggravate the situation, the majority of the bacteria which may be present in semen have innate or acquired resistance to antimicrobi‐ al agents added to diluters of the semen [18]. Many antimicrobial agents may still have their optimum action impaired by environmental conditions, such as the temperature [19]. Therefore, even with addition of antibiotics, the bacterial transmission through AI is a sit‐

Common bacteria which are associated with infections of the sows´ genital tract and are pos‐

Spirochetes of the Leptospira genus are the agents causing leptospirosis, a disease mainly characterized by reproductive disorders. In serological study conducted in Brazil, Favero et al. [20] (2002) observed that the most prevalent serovars associated with Leptospirosis are: pomona, icterohaemorrhagiae, copenhageni and tarassovi. The disease has worldwide dis‐

The main route for elimination of the Leptospires is through urinary system [22]. However, they may be present in the infected animals´ semen, as causing the infection of the female and can lead to reproductive complications during the bacteremia phase, inclusive abortion [23]. The bacteria can persist in the kidneys and reproductive organs of both males and fe‐ males, therefore facilitating the dissemination of the disease in herd, requiring an early diag‐

To fill out this need, the tests for antibody detection by serology are effective. However, for serotyping the Leptospires is necessary to consider other diagnostic techniques. Attention should be given to the vaccinated seropositivos animals, since the antibodies are likely due to vaccinal reaction. For detection of the agent, molecular tests can be performed by PCR

In the case of a positive diagnosis, even with few affected animals, the control must be taken by adopting the following criteria: management, fight against rodents, vaccination and drug treatment in order to prevent the dissemination of the disease in the herd. Con‐ sidering that Leptospira are sensitive to a wide variety of antimicrobial agents, the treat‐ ment associated with vaccination and sanitary measures provides an effective control of

**3.1. Bacterial contaminants**

uation that may occur.

*3.1.1. Leptospira spp.*

nosis of the disease.

the disease [26].

sibly transmitted via semen are presented below.

122 Success in Artificial Insemination - Quality of Semen and Diagnostics Employed

tribution and leads to infertility of the animals [21].

and immunoassay such as the direct immunofluorescence [24, 25].

Bacteria of the Mycobacterium genus are agents causing tuberculosis, a disease character‐ ized by provoking granulomatous lesions in various organs. In pig herds, *Mycobacterium avium* is the most prevalent species, but infections caused by *Mycobacterium tuberculosis* and *Mycobacterium bovis* can also occur [27]. Although pulmonary tuberculosis is the commonest form, the dissemination of the infection by several other organs can occur in a form so-called milliary tuberculosis [28].

When the disease appears under milliary form, the granulomatous lesions may be present in the reproductive organs with caseous necrosis with areas of calcification in the testis and ep‐ ididymis, therefore the elimination of the microorganisms by semen will occur [29, 30].

Those lesions associated with confirmatory tests, by using special colorations to identify the alcohol-acid resistant bacilli are sufficient for definitive diagnosis of the disease. For charac‐ terization of the species, the PCR technique has been used since the isolation of the myco‐ bacterium strains is considered as laborious procedure [31, 32].

The possible sources of infection can be determined by characterization of the agent. Thus, the complete and definitive diagnosis is very important to the control. Moreover, the issues concerning the farm hygiene are factors to be considered because the exposure to feces are the main factor for infection and dissemination of the disease [33].
