Vol. 7, Issue 12 (2018)

Author(s):
RM Reji, M Mini, BK Mani, S Sankar, V Thirupathy, PS Reshma, N AIswarya and TS Akkara

Abstract:
Respiratory tract infections are the major cause of economic loss in goats. Mycoplasma agalactiae acts as an important etiological agent in mastitis, arthritis, kerato-conjuctivitis, pleuropneumonia and septicaemia syndrome (MAKePS). This paper reports a case study regarding the outbreak of respiratory disease associated with M. agalactiae in a herd of goats in Thrissur district, Kerala. The goats were presented with symptoms of respiratory distress, conjunctivitis, lethargy and reduced production. Nasal swabs were collected and dispensed in modified Hayfick’s broth without crystal violet. After incubation at 37°C for about 72 h., DNA was isolated from the broth and subjected to Mycoplasma genus specific PCR, which revealed amplicons of 280 bp confirming the genus. Also, the solid medium which was inoculated with filtered drops of incubated broth presented typical fried egg like colonies after five days of incubation and the isolates were identified as Mycoplasma by PCR. The species was confirmed as M. agalactiae by nucleotide sequencing and this is the first report documenting the detection and isolation of M. agalactiae from goats of Kerala.