Comparison of caprine mycoplasmosis caused by Mycoplasma capricolum, Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides, and Mycoplasma putrefaciens.

We reviewed the disease process in goats caused by Mycoplasma capricolum, M. mycoides subsp. mycoides, and M. putrefaciens and compared mycoplasma-infected goats (particularly young kids) for microanatomic changes. M. capricolum and M. mycoides subsp. mycoides cause a nearly identical disease: septicemia leading to pyrexia, high morbidity and mortality, interstitial pneumonia, arthritis (including polyarthritis), and mastitis. Until recently, M. putrefaciens was known only as a cause of mastitis. However, a new isolate of M. putrefaciens may be transiently septicemic, as evidenced by polyarthritis with isolations from joints, lung, brain, kidney, pleural fluid, uterus, and urine.