Mycoplasma bovis is a cause of bronchopneumonia, mastitis and arthritis but may also affect other main organs in cattle such us the eye, ear or brain. Despite its non-zoonotic character, M. bovis infections are responsible for substantial economic health and welfare problems worldwide. M. bovis has spread worldwide, including to countries for a long time considered free of the pathogen. Control of M. bovis infections is hampered by a lack of effective vaccines and treatments due to increasing trends in antimicrobial resistance. This review summarizes the latest data on the epizootic situation of M. bovis infections and new sources/routes of transmission of the infection, and discusses the progress in diagnostics. The review includes various recommendations and suggestions which could be applied to infection control programs.
BackgroundMycoplasma bovis is a causative agent of disease in cattle causing many clinical conditions. Currently there are no commercial M. bovis vaccines in Europe and treatment is difficult with decreased antimicrobial susceptibility of M. bovis field isolates. Using an M. bovis calf infection model the effectiveness of enrofloxacin given alone; in combination with flunixin meglumine, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug; and a group with an additional treatment of pegbovigrastim, an immunostimulator, was evaluated.ResultsEnrofloxacin given alone stimulated a strong immune response, reduced the clinical manifestation and lung lessions of the M. bovis infection. In contrast the combination therapy appeared ineffective.ConclusionsIn this experiment enrofloxacin given alone appeared to be the most effective treatment of the M. bovis affected calves, whereas co-administration with flunixin meglumine, and pegbovigrastim was not beneficial in this trial.
Mycoplasma bovis and Mycoplasma mycoides subspecies mycoides small colony (MmmSC) are causes of bovine mycoplasmosis and contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP), respectively, and are responsible for serious economic losses in cattle around the world. CBPP was last reported in Poland in 1939 but bovine mycoplasmosis is believed to be endemic. A survey of 3670 serum samples for antibodies to M bovis and MmmSC from 361 herds in 16 Polish provinces Poland between 2007 and 2010 found no evidence of CBPP. The seroprevalence of M bovis, however, appeared high with 76.7 per cent of samples giving a positive reaction in the ELISA test, which did not appear to reflect the clinical disease status of the cattle. Adjusting the sensitivity of the test reduced the prevalence to 28.2 per cent and reflects the levels reported in other European countries.
The effect of three different field isolates of Mycoplasma bovis on selected immunological parameters in experimentally infected calves was studied. Calves were kept separately in 4 experimental groups, and animals of 3 groups were infected intratracheally with one of the three selected isolates of M. bovis. The control group was inoculated intra-tracheally with sterile physiological saline. Nasal swabs and blood samples were collected just before the calf inoculation, then daily for seven days, and then weekly for another three weeks. The presence of M. bovis antigen, M. bovis antibodies, total protein, gamma globulins, IgA, IgM, IgG, acute phase proteins (haptoglobulin and serum amyloid A), as well as interferon-γ and interleukin-4 concentrations were determined. M. bovis was detected intermittently during the study in the infected groups from day 1, whilst the control group remained free of the pathogen. M. bovis antibodies were detected in some of infected animals in the second, third, and fourth week after infection. The stimulation and/or immunological suppression varied between the M. bovis isolates used for the inoculation. All M. bovis isolates induced a rise of APP and gamma globulin concentrations in infected calves. However, in this study the mucosal immune response appeared to be down-regulated, which was expressed with a general lack of IgA stimulation.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.