A single dose of vaccine for Mycoplasma bovis pneumonia, inactivated with saponin, was inoculated subcutaneously into 3-4 week-old calves. The calves were challenged 3 weeks later with a virulent strain of M. bovis on two occasions within 24h using the aerosol route. The calves were monitored for clinical signs and serological responses then post mortemed 3 weeks after challenge. The vaccine was shown to be highly immunogenic in calves and did not cause adverse effects. Vaccinated calves showed few clinical signs while all unvaccinated calves developed signs of pneumonia. There was a significant decrease in body weight gain in unvaccinated calves compared to vaccinates and a significant increase in lung lesions and rectal temperatures in unvaccinated calves. The vaccine also reduced the spread of M. bovis to internal organs. In conclusion the M. bovis vaccine produced a significant level of protection against a large virulent challenge.
SUMMARYThe spread of inflammation of the cloaca and phallus in goose flocks was investigated. In the flocks surveyed, 57.5 to 71.8% of the initial gander stock and 39.8 to 100% of the replacement ganders were affected. Based on the results of several hundred attempts at mycoplasma isolation, a relationship was found between mycoplasma infection and the occurrence of inflammation of the cloaca and phallus in the flocks. Mycoplasmas were frequently isolated from the mucous membrane of the phallus, the pallic lymph, and the inner organs of ganders in the affected flocks, but not from birds in unaffected flocks. Two biochemically (glucose-splitting and arginine-hydrolysing) and three serologically distinct types of mycoplasmas have been isolated. One of them proved to be identical to strain 46, identified by J.M. Bradbury as M. cloacale, and two strains may represent new Mycoplasma species since they differ serologically from all previously known Mycoplasma spp. In the diseased flocks, the strain designated 1220 (8390) and the antibodies produced against it were of most frequent occurrence. At the peak of egg production, mycoplasmas were isolated from 92.1% of the phallic lymph samples, and 94.6% of the test sera were positive for antibodies to strain 1220 (8390).
The GenBank accession numbers for the 16S rRNA gene sequence and the genome of the strain 1220 T are EU597750 and CP042295, respectively, and the GenBank accession numbers for other housekeeping genes used for the genetic characterization of each novel species described in this study are provided in the manuscript. †These authors contributed equally to this work Two supplementary figures, two supplementary tables and one supplementary document are available with the online version of this article.
A Mycoplasma bovis species-specific PCR assay has been developed with improvement of a previously described method (Ghadersohi et al., 1997). This test and its semi-nested version (Hayman and Hirst, 2003) did not function at all in our hands. A new reverse primer (Mbr2) was designed using previously published sequence data. For testing specificity, DNA was extracted from the most frequently occurring mycoplasma species and bacteria of bovine origin. The new PCR detected only Mycoplasma bovis. Moreover, no cross-reaction was observed with the genetically closest relative species, M. agalactiae. The target organism could be detected in a dose as low as 150 CFU ml -1 in broth cultures using ethidium-bromide-stained agarose gels.
SUMMARYInfertile eggs, dead embryos and tissues from laying geese (airsacs, peritoneum, oviduct, ovary, ova) were examined for presence of mycoplasmas. Forty-three of 110 eggs and the birds laying mycoplasmacontaining eggs proved to be positive for mycoplasmas. One of the strains was used for experimental infection of laying geese. A reduction in egg production, an increased number of infertile eggs, egg transmission of mycoplasmas and loss of body weight of hatched goslings, were observed due to the mycoplasma infection.
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