Table 1.

Tissue homogenates (65 samples per group) were decontaminated with sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), or hexadecylpiridinium chloride (HPC) and inoculated onto tuberculosis blood agar (B83), Middlebrook's 7H11 with additives and OADC supplement “B” (7H11 B), Middlebrook's 7H11 with additives and OADC supplement “A” (7H11 A) and Stonebrink's medium.

Decontaminants	H2SO4 5% (v/v)				NaOH 2% (w/v)				HPC 0.75% (w/v)
Media	SB	7H11 A	7H11 B	B83	SB	7H11 A	7H11 B	B83	SB	7H11 A	7H11 B	B83
No. positive for M. bovis	62	55	62	61	61	52	61	60	60	47	58	58
Frequency of positive sample for M. bovis (% of total)	95.4a	84.6bcd	95.4a	93.8a	93.8a	80.0bc	93.8a	92.3ad	92.3ad	72.3b	89.2ac	89.2ac

Equal letters between two frequencies show no statistical differences (p > 0.05), according to the McNemar test.