IntroductionThe aim of the study was to determine how the spread of contagious agalactia in sheep and goats in the Odesa region depended on the age of the animals and the season.Material and MethodsFrom January 2016 to December 2018, 1,964 ewes and 1,484 nanny goats of different age groups were studied by ELISA for antibodies to Mycoplasma agalactiae.ResultsThe highest incidence of contagious agalactia was registered in one-year-old animals and was 59.7‒83.0%, two-year-old ruminants showed 17.0‒40.3% prevalence, in livestock at the age of 3–4 years no serological evidence of the disease was registered and in ewes and nanny goats older than 5–6 years 1.5–3.6% were infected. The most susceptible were young animals at the age of one-month (11.6‒14.5%). The first peak of the disease was recorded in March‒April (21.0‒26.1%), in the lambing period, which coincided with the beginning of lactation and the suckling period, and the second peak occurred in June–July (28.9‒34.2%), the period of maximum lactation and of manual milking of sheep and goats.ConclusionThe results of serological investigations indicate the circulation of M. agalactiae in small ruminants in the south of Ukraine. To avoid greater dissemination of the pathogen, appropriate measures should be applied and strategies for its control need to be drawn up.
The paper presents data on the positive effect of the inactivated vaccine against contagious agalactia of sheep and goats developed in the National Scientific Center ‘Institute of Experimental and Clinical Veterinary Medicine’ (Kharkiv, Ukraine) on the biochemical and immunological parameters of sheep blood serum. It has been proved that the vaccine is not reactogenic, does not have immunosuppressive action and corrects the recovery of serum albumin concentration in vaccinated sheep, namely by reducing α-globulins by 28.5% and β-globulins by 36.8% and has a positive effect on the growth of γ-globulin by 31.5%, activating the humoral level of immunity
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