Survey of Victorian small ruminant herds for mycoplasmas associated with contagious agalactia and molecular characterisation of Mycoplasma mycoides subspecies capri isolates rom one herd

摘要

Objective Regarded as one of the most expensive production diseases of dairy sheep and goats, contagious agalactia (CA) is caused by any of four agents: Mycoplasma agalactiae, M. mycoides subspecies capri (Mmc), M. capricolum subspecies capricolum (Mcc) and M. putrefaciens. Although CA is worldwide in distribution, it has not been reported in Australia, even though studies between the 1950s and 1980s isolated each agent from sheep or goats without any clinical signs associated with it. The aim of this study was to examine sheep and goats in Victoria, Australia, for the presence of CA-associated mycoplasmas and to investigate the evolutionary relationships of these isolates by comparing their genetic differences with their counterparts from other parts of the world.