Identification of Mycoplasmatales in pneumonic calf lungs.
Lungs from 153 calves with clinical signs of pneumonia were examined post-mortem (PM) for the presence of mycoplasmas and ureaplasmas during a 38-month period. Sixty-two percent of the cases were submitted during the months when wide fluctuations in climatic conditions occur. Using indirect fluorescent antibody tests (IFAT) and culture, mycoplasmas and/or ureaplasmas were detected in 63% of the lungs examined. Mycoplasma dispar was detected in 39%, M. bovis in 36%, Ureaplasma spp. in 22% and M. bovirhinis in 8.5% of the lungs. Thirty percent of the lungs were infected with more than one species; the most frequent combination was M. bovis, M. dispar and Ureaplasma spp. (10.5%). M. arginini, M. bovigenitalium and acholeplasmas were not cultured. M. dispar was shown to remain viable for up to 15 days PM in apical and cardiac lobes held at 4 degrees C and also was detected by IFAT in the same tissues for 49 days.
D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D003470:Culture Media; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D008168:Lung / Q000382:microbiology*; D009174:Mycoplasma / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009175:Mycoplasma Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D014509:Ureaplasma / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D003470:Culture Media