CONTAGIOUS AGALACTIA IN GOATS - ITS SEVERITY AS RELATED TO THE ROUTE OF INFECTION AND PREGNANCY

Contagious agalactia was produced experimentally in four groups of goa ts (each containing seven goats) using a local isolate of Mycoplasma a galactiae, employing four different routes of inoculation (intravenous , intramammary, subcutaneous and oral) each. Major clinical signs thro ughout the experiment were mastitis, arthritis, and conjunctivitis. Cl inical signs were most obvious in the subcutaneously inoculated group which also yielded the highest number of M. agalactiae recoveries befo re and after sacrifice, followed by the intramammary, intravenous and lastly the orally inoculated group. Pregnant animals were affected mor e severely than non-pregnant animals.