Find in Library

Contagious agalactia (CA) is suspected when small ruminants show all or several of the following clinical signs: mastitis, arthritis, keratoconjunctivitis and occasionally abortion. It is confirmed following mycoplasma isolation or detection. The historical and major cause is <i>Mycoplasma agalactiae</i> which was first isolated from sheep in 1923. Over the last thirty years, three other mycoplasmas (<i>Mycoplasma mycoides</i> subsp. <i>capri</i>, <i>Mycoplasma capricolum</i> subsp. <i>capricolum</i> and <i>Mycoplasma putrefaciens</i>) have been added to the etiology of CA because they can occasionally cause clinically similar outcomes though nearly always in goats. However, only <i>M. agalactiae</i> is subject to animal disease regulations nationally and internationally. Consequently, it makes little sense to list mycoplasmas other than <i>M. agalactiae</i> as causes of the OIE-listed CA when they are not officially reported by the veterinary authorities and unlikely to be so in the future. Indeed, encouraging countries just to report <i>M. agalactiae</i> may bring about a better understanding of the importance of CA. In conclusion, we recommend that CA should only be diagnosed and confirmed when <i>M. agalactiae</i> is detected either by isolation or molecular methods, and that the other three mycoplasmas be removed from the OIE <i>Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines in Terrestrial Animals</i> and associated sources.