Instituto Tecnológico Agrario de Castilla y León (ITACyL), Consejería de Agricultura y Ganadería, Junta de Castilla y León, Carretera de Burgos km, 119, C,P, 47071, Valladolid, Spain.
BMC Vet Res. 2012 Sep 24;8:171. doi: 10.1186/1746-6148-8-171.
Contagious Agalactia (CA) is one of the major animal health problems in small ruminants because of its economic significance. Currently, four Mycoplasma spp. have been associated with this syndrome: M. agalactiae, M. mycoides subsp. capri, M. capricolum subsp. capricolum and M. putrefaciens. Their presence has been evaluated in several studies conducted in CA-endemic countries. However, previous Spanish studies have been focused on caprine CA, and there is a knowledge gap regarding which Mycoplasma species are present in sheep flocks from Spain, which has the second highest number of sheep amongst the 27 European Union member states. Consequently, we investigated the presence and geographic distribution of the four CA-causing mycoplasmas in Spanish dairy sheep farms. This is the first time such an investigation has been performed.
Three hundred thirty nine out of 922 sheep flocks were positive for M. agalactiae by real time PCR (36.8%) and 85 by microbiological identification (9.2%). Interestingly, all 597 milk samples assessed for the presence of M. mycoides subsp. capri, M. capricolum subsp. capricolum and M. putrefaciens tested negative. To evaluate the intermittent excretion of the pathogen in milk, we sampled 391 additional farms from 2 to 5 times, resulting that in 26.3% of the cases a previously positive farm tested negative in a later sampling.
M. agalactiae was the only Mycoplasma species detected in the study area showing a high frequency of presence and wide distribution. Therefore, the establishment of a permanent surveillance network is advantageous, as well as the implementation of control and prevention measures to hinder the dissemination of M. agalactiae and to prevent the entrance of other Mycoplasma species.
传染性无乳症（CA）是小反刍动物的主要动物健康问题之一，因其具有重要的经济意义。目前，已有四种支原体与该综合征相关：牛支原体、山羊支原体亚种 capri、山羊支原体亚种 capricolum 和腐败莫拉菌。在 CA 流行国家进行的几项研究中已经评估了它们的存在。然而，以前的西班牙研究主要集中在山羊 CA 上，对于西班牙绵羊群中存在哪些支原体物种存在知识空白，西班牙是欧盟 27 个成员国中拥有第二大绵羊数量的国家。因此，我们调查了在西班牙奶牛绵羊养殖场中导致 CA 的四种支原体的存在和地理分布。这是首次进行此类调查。
通过实时 PCR 检测到 922 个绵羊群中有 339 个为牛支原体阳性（36.8%），通过微生物鉴定有 85 个为牛支原体阳性（9.2%）。有趣的是，评估的 597 份牛奶样本均未检测到山羊支原体亚种 capri、山羊支原体亚种 capricolum 和腐败莫拉菌。为了评估病原体在牛奶中的间歇性排泄，我们从 2 到 5 次对另外 391 个农场进行了采样，结果显示在 26.3%的情况下，之前呈阳性的农场在随后的采样中呈阴性。
牛支原体是研究区域中唯一检测到的支原体物种，存在频率高且分布广泛。因此，建立一个永久性的监测网络是有利的，同时实施控制和预防措施，以阻止牛支原体的传播，并防止其他支原体物种的进入。
