Disease caused by Mycoplasma mycoides subspecies Mycoides LC in Hungarian goat herds

The occurrence of a goat disease caused by Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoi des LC in Hungary is reported. The disease occurred in two goat herds in th e spring of 1999. In one herd 25% of the 4-12 weeks old kids (10 animals) w hile in the other herd 33% of the 6-12 weeks old kids (20 animals) became a ffected. The goat kids developed polyarthritis. The most severe lesions dev eloped in the carpel joints. All animals died after 3-8 days of disease. Fo ur dead kids were necropsied. All of them had serofibrinous and purulent po lyarthritis, and in two animals bronchopneumonia, fibrinous pleuritis and m eningitis were also found. In the articular exudates the presence of mycopl asmas was detected by PCR using a general mycoplasma primer. Mycoplasmas we re cultured from the joints of all animals, from the abdominal parenchymal organs of two kids and from the lungs of one animal. The cultured mycoplasm as grew in strikingly large colonies, proved to be glucose positive, argini ne negative and phosphatase positive, and liquefied the coagulated serum. T hey survived incubation at 45 degrees C for more than 24 h. Based upon thei r biochemical properties, the results of the immunofluorescence (IF) and gr owth inhibition tests and the sequence analysis of the PCR product, the cul tured strains were identified as M, mycoides subsp. mycoides LC. Animals pu rchased in the previous autumn had been introduced to both farms. The disea se may have been introduced with asymptomatic carrier animals, as earlier n o similar disease had been observed at either farm.