Mycoplasma agalactiae subsp. bovis in pneumonia and arthritis of the bovine.

The pneumonic lungs of 42 cattle from 26 feedlots were examined for the presence of mycoplasma, pathogenic bacteria and viruses. Four animals representative of two lots failed to yield mycoplasma. One of these yielded the virus of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis and Pasteurella hemolytica, the other yielded only P. P. multocida. Nine animals in eight lots yielded Mycoplasma sp.: five of these were M. bovirhinis, two were M. arginini and two were untypable. All of these animals yielded one or more of P. hemolytica, P. multiocida, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus or bovine virus diarrhea virus. Twenty-five of 29 animals in 16 lots yieled M. agalactiae subsp. bovis from lung tissues. The same organism was recovered from the arthritic joints of 12 of these animals. Eight of the 25 animals yielded no other pathogen and all of these had not received any treatment. Nine of the 25 M. agalactiae subsp. bovis positive animals also yielded one or more of P. hemolytica, P. multocida, Corynebacterium pyogenes or infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus. Bacteriological and virological studies were not completed for the remaining eight of the 25 positive animals. In five lots of cattle which had not received medication for pneumonia and for arthritis only M. agalactiae subsp. bovis was recovered. Twenty-five grossly normal lungs obtained from normal cattle at the time of slaughter were cultured and all were negative. The possible role of M. agalactiae subsp. bovis in pneumonia and arthritis was discussed.