title: The upper respiratory tract is a natural reservoir of haemolytic Mannheimia species associated with ovine mastitis.
abstract: Lamb suckling has been suggested to be an important way of infecting a ewe's udder with different bacteria, including Mannheimia haemolytica. To test the potential role of lambs in transferring Mannheimia species to the ewe's udder, the restriction endonuclease cleavage patterns of isolates obtained from nasopharyngeal swabs were compared with those obtained from cases of mastitis. Sterile cotton swabs were used to collect nasopharyngeal samples from 50 ewes and 36 lambs from three flocks. M. haemolytica and Mannheimia glucosida as well as haemolytic Mannheimia ruminalis-like organisms were detected in the upper respiratory tract of lambs and ewes. Comparison of the restriction endonuclease cleavage patterns of the isolates suggested that the M. haemolytica isolates obtained from different milk samples from ewes with mastitis were more clonal than those obtained from the nasal swabs. However, some nasal isolates within both Mannheimia species had restriction endonuclease cleavage patterns identical to those obtained from milk samples from ewes with mastitis, indicating that lambs may have a role in transferring these organisms to the udder. More clonality was observed between the M. glucosida isolates than between M. haemolytica isolates.
authors.affiliation: Biosecurity Sciences Laboratory, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Block 12, Health and Food Sciences Precinct, 39 Kessels Road, Coopers Plains, QLD 4108, Australia.
authors.forename: Lida
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Omaleki
authors.affiliation: Asia-Pacific Centre for Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Glenn F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Browning
authors.affiliation: Asia-Pacific Centre for Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Joanne L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.affiliation: Asia-Pacific Centre for Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Philip F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Markham
authors.affiliation: Asia-Pacific Centre for Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia. Electronic address: srbarber@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Stuart R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Barber
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D007774:Lactation; D008321:Mammary Glands, Animal / Q000382:microbiology; D031121:Mannheimia / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016978:Mannheimia haemolytica / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008413:Mastitis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008892:Milk / Q000382:microbiology; D009305:Nasopharynx / Q000382:microbiology*; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000635:transmission; D034561:Sheep, Domestic / Q000382:microbiology; D014739:Victoria; D014886:Weaning
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial
keywords: Mannheimia glucosida; Mannheimia haemolytica; Nasal swab; Pulsed field gel electrophoresis; Sheep