EPIDEMIOLOGIC-STUDY OF ENVIRONMENTAL SOURCES IN A PROTOTHECA-ZOPFII OUTBREAK OF BOVINE MASTITIS

Bovine mastitis represents the main form of occurrence of protothecosi s in animals. The detection of mastitis caused by Prototheca sp. indic ates a serious problem which can affect an entire herd. The purpose df this study is to explain some aspects of the epidemiology of mastitis due to Prototheca zopfii with the evaluation of the presence of these microorganisms in samples collected from potential sources in the dai ry herd. This study was performed during a Prototheca zopfii outbreak of clinical bovine mastitis in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The fol lowing samples were aseptically collected for microbiological examinat ion: milk (n = 211); rectal swabs (from 15 calves and 2 lactating cows ); swabs from teat cup rubbers during milking (n = 2); water (n = 6); soil (n = 6). Prototheca zopfii was isolated from 77 (36.49%) of the 2 11 milk samples; 11 calves and 2 cows showed Prototheca zopfii in faec al samples; both swabs collected from the teat cup rubbers showed viab le forms of Prototheca zopfii; this microorganism was also isolated fr om 2 water samples, and 1 soil sample collected from the dry cow pastu re. Prototheca zopfii seemed to be widespread throughout the dairy her d environment where this outbreak of bovine mastitis occurred.