Mycoplasmas of goats and sheep.

Abstract

The goat is an important commodity in many areas of the world, where it is kept as a source of meat, milk, and fiber. Often described as the “poor man’s cow,” the goat can survive in areas where a cow cannot and, therefore, replaces the cow in importance for a large segment of the world’s population. Improved goat husbandry will help maximize human food supplies from marginal agricultural lands under restrictive climatologic circumstances. Among the important goat diseases, mycoplasmal infections result in significant losses on the African continent and in countries such as Greece, France, Inassigned an arbitrary serotype number, except for ureaplasmas, which will be referred to as Ureaplasma spp. under a single serotype. To retain continuity with previous reports, serotype numbers for unclassified mycoplasmas are retained as originally listed in other reports. Three strains, Mycoplasma spp. G, U, and V, were first isolated from the external ear canals of clinically normal goats in Australia but also occur in the ear canals of goats in the United States (strains GM274B or GM790A, GM623, and GM257A, respectively) and are probably new mycoplasma species. New evdia, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the United States. idence suggests that one of these serotypes (identical Morbidity and mortality can reach 100%. Several imto Mycoplasma sp. G or the US serologic equivalents portant outbreaks have been described, including 1 [strains GM274B or GM790A]) are pathogenic for the that required the destruction of an entire herd of 700 goat. goats in the United States. The list of mycoplasma serotypes given herein repClinical mycoplasmosis often lacks pathognomonic resents only those that differ from the other serotypes characteristics, and symptoms can be shared by or can named in this report, with the exception of strain mimic other clinically significant infections. As a conAl 343, which could not be obtained for comparison. sequence, the diagnosis of an acute caprine mycoplasThus, some publications list isolates as “unclassified” ma1 infection can be easily misinterpreted, even by the or “unspeciated” mycoplasma of goat or sheep oriveterinarian. For example, in acute or peracute infecgin 14,67,91 These mycoplasmas, and undoubtedly many tions with Mycoplasma capricolum or caprine strains others, are not included here because they were not of M. mycoides ssp. mycoides, the animal can die suddenly without premonitory signs. In such cases, the histologic sented for picion of gorized as changes are slight, and cases that are preroutine diagnostic analysis without any susmycoplasmal infection can easily be catebeing of undetermined etiology. serologically compared rotypes listed herein. with all the caprine/ovine se-