Blood cultures and blood microbiota analysis as surrogates for bronchoalveolar lavage fluid analysis in dogs with bacterial pneumonia

Diagnosis of canine bacterial pneumonia relies on airway lavage to confirm septic, suppurative inflammation, and a positive bacterial culture. Considering risks of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) collection, minimally invasive methods like culture or next generation sequencing of blood would be appealing.