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Contagious Agalactia of Small Ruminants: Epidemiology, Diagnosis, Control, and Antibiotic Resistance

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A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Veterinary Clinical Studies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 12744

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Christian de La Fe Rodriguez

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Guest Editor

Ruminant Health Research Group, Department of Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Regional Campus of International Excellence “Campus Mare Nostrum”, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Interests: mycoplasma; caprine arthritis encephalitis (CAEV); visna maedi; contagious agalactiae; contagious caprine pleuropneumonia; atypical pneumonia (M. ovipneumoniae)

Prof. Dr. Ángel Gómez-Martín

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Department of Animal Health and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University CEU Cardenal Herrera of Valencia, CEU Universities, Valencia, Spain
Interests: mycoplasma; contagious agalactia; M. bovis; probiotics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The social and economic consequences of contagious agalactia in small ruminant herds make it one of the most important diseases to control in order to ensure the profitability of caprine and ovine flocks. The use of molecular methods in the study of the epidemiology of the infection, in addition to the development and application of new diagnostic strategies, are essential for the control of infection in chronically infected herds and the reduction of antimicrobial resistance, a tool widely used to treat affected animals. The development of new, more effective vaccines is also a major challenge to be addressed. This Special Issue is open to all works that address from any field the study of the disease, including the presence of carriers of the agents associated with infection in wild hosts.

Prof. Dr. Christian de La Fe Rodriguez
Prof. Dr. Ángel Gómez-Martín
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

contagious agalactia
typing
epidemiology
carriers
control
antibiotic resistance
vaccines

Published Papers (4 papers)

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10 pages, 1057 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Predominant Single Stable VpmaV Expression in Strain GM139 and Major Differences with Mycoplasma agalactiae Type Strain PG2

by Maysa Santos Barbosa, Joachim Spergser, Lucas Miranda Marques, Jorge Timenetsky, Renate Rosengarten and Rohini Chopra-Dewasthaly

Animals 2022, 12(3), 265; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12030265 - 21 Jan 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1649

Abstract

Although mycoplasmas have a reduced genome and no cell wall, they have important mechanisms for the antigenic variation in surface lipoproteins that modulate their interactions with the host. Mycoplasma agalactiae, the main etiological agent of contagious agalactia, has a multigene family involved in the high-frequency phase variation in surface lipoproteins called variable proteins of M. agalactiae (Vpmas). The Vpma lipoproteins are involved in the immune evasion, colonization, dissemination, and persistence of M. agalactiae in the host. In this paper, we evaluate the Vpma phenotypic profiles of two different strains of M. agalactiae, namely, GM139 and the type strain PG2, to assess possible correlations between Vpma phase variability and the geographic localization, animal origin, and pathogenicity of these two strains. Using monospecific Vpma antibodies against individual Vpmas in immunoblots, we demonstrate that, unlike PG2, which expresses six Vpma proteins with high-frequency phase variation, colonies of GM139 predominantly express VpmaV and do not exhibit any sectoring phenotype for any Vpma. Since VpmaV is one of the most important Vpmas for cell adhesion and invasion, its predominant sole expression in GM139 without high-frequency variation may be the basis of the differential pathogenicity of GM139 and PG2. Additionally, MALDI-ToF MS analysis also demonstrates significant differences between these two strains and their relatedness with other M. agalactiae strains. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Contagious Agalactia of Small Ruminants: Epidemiology, Diagnosis, Control, and Antibiotic Resistance)

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14 pages, 3331 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Efflux Might Participate in Decreased Susceptibility to Oxytetracycline in Contagious Agalactia-Causative Mycoplasma spp.

by Juan Tatay-Dualde, Miranda Prats-van der Ham, Patrice Gaurivaud, Christian de la Fe and Florence Tardy

Animals 2021, 11(8), 2449; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11082449 - 20 Aug 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2552

Abstract

Contagious agalactia is associated with mastitis, keratoconjunctivitis, arthritis, pneumonia, and septicemia in small ruminants in countries with large dairy industries worldwide. The causative agents belong to four (sub)species of the Mycoplasma genus that have remained essentially susceptible to antimicrobials, including to the widely-used tetracycline family. However, some clinical isolates have been detected that show increased minimum inhibitory concentrations of tetracyclines, although they do not harbor the mutation in the 16SrRNA gene usually associated with resistance. The present work aimed to assess whether efflux pumps, infrequently described in mycoplasmas, could participate in the observed moderate loss of susceptibility. General efflux mechanisms were measured (i) using the fluorescence property of ethidium bromide when accumulated intracellularly and intercalated in the mycoplasma genomes, its active extrusion resulting in a temperature-dependent decrease in fluorescence and (ii) monitoring the growth inhibition of mycoplasmas by subinhibitory concentrations of tetracycline with or without reserpine, a known inhibitor of efflux in other bacteria. Both methods revealed non-specific efflux phenomena in most of the isolates tested, although their efficacy was difficult to quantify. This property could contribute to the acquisition of mutations conferring resistance by maintaining intracellular concentrations of tetracyclines at subinhibitory levels. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Contagious Agalactia of Small Ruminants: Epidemiology, Diagnosis, Control, and Antibiotic Resistance)

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16 pages, 1180 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

PK/PD Analysis of Marbofloxacin by Monte Carlo Simulation against Mycoplasmaagalactiae in Plasma and Milk of Lactating Goats after IV, SC and SC-Long Acting Formulations Administration

by Emilio Fernández-Varón, Edgar García-Romero, Juan M. Serrano-Rodríguez, Carlos M. Cárceles, Ana García-Galán, Carlos Cárceles-García, Rocío Fernández, Cristina Muñoz and Christian de la Fe

Animals 2021, 11(4), 1104; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11041104 - 12 Apr 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2280

Abstract

Contagious agalactia is a mycoplasmosis affecting small ruminants that have become an important issue in many countries. However, PK/PD studies of antibiotics to treat this problem in lactating goats affected by Mycoplasma (M.) agalactiae, the main CA-causing mycoplasma are almost non-existent. The aims of this study were to evaluate the plasma and milk disposition of marbofloxacin in lactating goats after intravenous (IV), subcutaneous (SC) and subcutaneous poloxamer P407 formulations with and without carboxy-methylcellulose (SC-P407-CMC and SC-P407) administration. Marbofloxacin concentrations were analysed by the High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) method. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of M. agalactiae field isolates from mastitic goat’s milk were used to calculate surrogate markers of efficacy. Terminal half-lives of marbofloxacin after IV, SC, SC-P407 and SC-P407-CMC administration were 7.12, 6.57, 13.92 and 12.19 h in plasma, and the half-lives of elimination of marbofloxacin in milk were 7.22, 7.16, 9.30 and 7.74 h after IV, SC, SC-P407 and SC-P407-CMC administration, respectively. Marbofloxacin penetration from the blood into the milk was extensive, with Area Under the Curve (AUC_milk/AUC_plasma) ratios ranged 1.04–1.23, and maximum concentrations (C_max-milk/C_max-plasma) ratios ranged 0.72–1.20. The PK/PD surrogate markers of efficacy fAUC24/MIC and the Monte Carlo simulation show that marbofloxacin ratio (fAUC₂₄/MIC > 125) using a 90% of target attainment rate (TAR) need a dose regimen between 8.4 mg/kg (SC) and 11.57 mg/kg (P407CMC) and should be adequate to treat contagious agalactia in lactating goats. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Contagious Agalactia of Small Ruminants: Epidemiology, Diagnosis, Control, and Antibiotic Resistance)

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8 pages, 509 KiB

Open AccessCommentary

Mycoplasma agalactiae: The Sole Cause of Classical Contagious Agalactia?

by Sergio Migliore, Roberto Puleio, Robin A. J. Nicholas and Guido R. Loria

Animals 2021, 11(6), 1782; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11061782 - 15 Jun 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4530

Abstract

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 Mycoplasma agalactiae which was first isolated from sheep in 1923. Over the last thirty years, three other mycoplasmas (Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. capri, Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capricolum and Mycoplasma putrefaciens) have been added to the etiology of CA because they can occasionally cause clinically similar outcomes though nearly always in goats. However, only M. agalactiae is subject to animal disease regulations nationally and internationally. Consequently, it makes little sense to list mycoplasmas other than M. agalactiae 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 M. agalactiae may bring about a better understanding of the importance of CA. In conclusion, we recommend that CA should only be diagnosed and confirmed when M. agalactiae is detected either by isolation or molecular methods, and that the other three mycoplasmas be removed from the OIE Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines in Terrestrial Animals and associated sources. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Contagious Agalactia of Small Ruminants: Epidemiology, Diagnosis, Control, and Antibiotic Resistance)

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