Detection of mycoplasma from Goat lungs collected from Abattoir samples

Abstract

Respiratory diseases are a major cause of death in goat kids and decreased productivity in older goats. Several Mycoplasma species cause respiratory diseases in goats. Respiratory Mycoplasma infections have not been reported in Sri Lankan goats. However, previous studies have reported relatively high prevalence of respiratory Mycoplasma infection among goats in neighboring countries. The highest incidence was reported in Pakistan (20%) followed by India and Bangladesh (8%). PCR is a rapid and simple method of detection and identification of the Mycoplasma species. The present study investigated the occurrence of Mycoplasma in goats using randomly selected lung samples obtained from Colombo municipal slaughterhouse using PCR. A total of 36 lung samples obtained from the slaughterhouse along with one sample from a goat that died of atypical pneumonia were used in this study. The DNA was extracted using DNeasy blood and tissue DNA extraction kit (Qiagen) according to manufacturer’s instructions and PCR was performed using genus-specific primers for Mycoplasma and species-specific primers for Mycoplasma arginini, Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae and Mycoplasma mycoides subspecies capri according to previously described protocols. It was observed that 63.8% (23/36) of the samples were positive for Mycoplasma genus. The clinical case was also positive for Mycoplasma genus. This study has provided preliminary evidence for the presence of Mycoplasma from respiratory tract of goats in Sri Lanka. Further studies are necessary to identify specific pathogenic Mycoplasma spp. causing respiratory infections in Sri Lankan goats.