Characterization of Mycoplasma isolated from an ibex (Capra ibex) suffering from keratoconjunctivitis in northern Italy.
In 2005 a Mycoplasma species was isolated from ocular-conjunctival swabs from an adult male Alpine ibex (Capra ibex) from the Valle d'Aosta Region, Northern Italy. The animal suffered from bilateral ocular discharge with diffuse inflammation, severe corneal involvement of the left eye and mild corneal opacity of the right eye. Histologic examination revealed a keratoconjunctivitis characterized by lymphocytic and plasmacellular infiltration. Laboratory investigations of the isolate included culture, transmission electron microscopy, PCR, and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, as well as DNA sequencing of the 16S rDNA gene. These tests identified the isolate as Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. capri large-colony serovar, an organism that has occasionally been associated with keratoconjunctivitis in goats. For a correct diagnosis, it is necessary to carry out laboratory investigations, as clinical cases of keratoconjunctivitis in wild ruminants are not always ascribable to Mycoplasma conjunctivae.
National Reference Centre for Wild Animal Diseases, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta, Regione Amerique 7/G, 11020 Quart, Aosta, Italy.
Massimo
M
Giangaspero
Riccardo
R
Orusa
Robin A J
RA
Nicholas
Ryô
R
Harasawa
Roger D
RD
Ayling
Colin P
CP
Churchward
Adrian
A
Whatmore
David
D
Bradley
Serena
S
Robetto
Luciano
L
Sacchi
Lorenzo
L
Domenis
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D006041:Goats; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D007639:Keratoconjunctivitis, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D009176:Mycoplasma mycoides / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011002:Pleuropneumonia, Contagious / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*