Independent Dairy Consultant, Torhout, Belgium.
Res Vet Sci. 2012 Apr;92(2):219-20. doi: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2011.03.016. Epub 2011 Apr 8.
Mycoplasma bovis (M. bovis) is a highly infectious pathogen of cattle causing pneumonia, polyarthritis, otitis, and less frequently, subcutaneous abscesses, abortions and meningitis. Ineffective drugs treatments, culling of infected cows and loss of milk production can lead to significant economic loss on dairy farms. The early detection of cows excreting M. bovis bacteria to prevent mastitis outbreaks is warranted. Reports suggest that the risk of M. bovis mastitis is higher in larger dairy herds. The objective of this study is to estimate the herd-level prevalence of M. bovis in Flanders, Belgium by culturing bulk tank milk samples taken from dairy farms. Three bulk tank milk samples per dairy herd were taken over four weeks, with collection intervals of two weeks. Culturing was done after pre-incubation using modified Hayflicks media to increase the chances of recovery of bacteria. For the identification of M. bovis, tDNA intergenic spacer PCR was used. In three herds (1.5%) of the 200 herds sampled, M. bovis was isolated from one of the three consecutive bulk tank milk samples. We conclude that in Flanders in 2009 at least 1.5% of the dairy herds had one or more cows excreting M. bovis in the milk. The frequent monitoring of bulk tank milk to detect the presence of M. bovis, especially in expanding herds on farms that often purchase replacement animals, should be encouraged in order to detect the presence of M. bovis and to monitor the success of control procedures following an outbreak of mycoplasmal mastitis in the herd.
牛支原体（M. bovis）是一种高度传染性病原体，可引起牛的肺炎、多发性关节炎、中耳炎，以及较少见的皮下脓肿、流产和脑膜炎。无效的药物治疗、感染牛的淘汰以及产奶量的损失可能导致奶牛场的重大经济损失。早期检测排出牛支原体细菌的奶牛以预防乳腺炎爆发是有必要的。报告表明，大型奶牛场的牛支原体乳腺炎风险更高。本研究的目的是通过培养从弗拉芒地区（比利时）奶牛场采集的牛奶样本，估计牛支原体在畜群中的流行率。每个奶牛场采集三个牛奶样本，每个样本采集间隔两周，共采集四周。在使用改良 Hayflicks 培养基进行预孵育后进行培养，以增加细菌回收的机会。为了鉴定牛支原体，使用 tDNA 基因间 spacer PCR。在 200 个采样畜群中的三个畜群（1.5%）中，从三个连续的牛奶样本中的一个样本中分离出了牛支原体。我们得出结论，在 2009 年的弗拉芒地区，至少有 1.5%的奶牛场有一头或多头奶牛在牛奶中排出牛支原体。应鼓励经常监测牛奶以检测牛支原体的存在，特别是在经常购买替代动物的畜群中，以检测牛支原体的存在，并监测畜群爆发支原体乳腺炎后的控制程序的成功。
