Molecular detection of Mycoplasma suis in extensive pig production systems in the State of Maranhão, northeast Brazil.

Mickaellen Susanny Dos Santos Martins,Ferdinan Almeida Melo,Lucas Diniz Silva,Marcos Rogério André,Rosangela Zacarias Machado,Cristian Alex Aquino Lima,José Gomes Pereira,Leandro Macêdo Miranda,Maria Do Socorro Costa Oliveira Braga,Renan Bressianini Do Amaral,Carla Janaina Rebouças Marques Do Rosário

doi:10.1590/s1984-296120180099

Mickaellen Susanny Dos Santos Martins, Ferdinan Almeida Melo + Show 9 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/s1984-296120180099

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Abstract

Mycoplasma suis is a bacterium that causes hemoplasmosis in pigs. This agent is capable of adhering to the surface of porcine erythrocytes, inducing structural changes on these cells. In Brazil, there are few reports about the disease, its causal agent, and the economic impact of this pathogen on pig production systems and farm sanitation. The present study aimed to investigate the occurrence of M. suis in extensive swine farms located in the counties of Itapecuru Mirim, Santa Rita and Rosario, State of Maranhão, northeast Brazil. For such purpose, 64 blood samples of pigs from these facilities were tested for M. suis using a 16S rRNA gene-based quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR); 82.3%, 65.2% and 25% of blood samples of swine from farms in the cities of Itapecuru Mirim, Santa Rita and Rosario were positive for M. suis by qPCR, respectively. This study shows, for the first time, that M. suis circulates in pig populations from the state of Maranhão, Northeast Brazil.

Highlights

Mycoplasma suis, the etiologic agent of porcine hemoplasmosis, is a pathogen showing a worldwide distribution (MESSICK, 2004) and causing significant economic losses in the pig industry (GUIMARÃES et al, 2007)
All swine blood samples were positive in cPCR assays based on gapdh gene, ruling out the occurrence of false negative results
Out of 64 sampled animals, 35 (54.7%) were positive for M. suis by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR): (82.3%) from the city of Itapecuru Mirim, (65.2%) from Santa Rita, and 6 (24%) from the city of Rosario

Summary

Introduction

Mycoplasma suis, the etiologic agent of porcine hemoplasmosis, is a pathogen showing a worldwide distribution (MESSICK, 2004) and causing significant economic losses in the pig industry (GUIMARÃES et al, 2007). Considering that Brazil occupies the fourth place in the pork export in the world (BRASIL, 2016), knowledge about the occurrence of this pathogen in the pig production systems in our country and its impacts in the sanitary and economic sphere are of paramount importance. This agent belongs to the group of hemotrophic mycoplasmas, or hemoplasmas, that comprises non-cultivable bacteria that lack a cell wall. Congenital infection has been reported in newborn piglets (vertical transplacental transmission) (HENDERSON et al, 1997)

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