Studies on Virulence and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Mycoplasma Species Recovered from Sheep and Goat

Abstract

In Egypt, the number of sheep and goats was estimated around 5,488,000 heads. They have high economic importance especially for farmers. They are kept as household animals, gaining importance in agricultural people's livelihoods, mainly in Upper Egypt and the Bedouins. Therefore, a great attention should be directed toward caprine and ovine industry to meet the people requirements from animal protein. Mycoplasma is a type of bacteria that lacks a cell wall, difficult to be cultured and slow growers. Many Mycoplasma species infect sheep and goats, causing devastating diseases such as CCPP (OIE list disease caused by Mycoplasma capricolum subspecies capripneumoniae (Mccp)). Other Mycoplasma species have been recovered from sheep and goats with respiratory problems as well as apparently healthy animals. M. arginini, M. ovipneumoniae, and M. mycoides subspecies capri and (Mcc), Mycoplasma putrefaciens, were isolated, in addition to M. bovis that are rarely recorded. Clinical mycoplasmosis frequently lacks pathognomonic features, and symptoms might coincide with or be misinterpreted with other diseases. As a consequence, the diagnosis of an acute caprine mycoplasma1 infection can be easily misinterpreted, even by veterinarians. Though diagnosing of Mycoplasma is a time-consuming task, they are delicate organisms that require specialized growth media, enrichments such as yeast extract, DNA, dextrose, horse serum,