This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow An erratum has been published
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Nicolas, M. M.
Right arrow Articles by Schrenzel, M. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Nicolas, M. M.
Right arrow Articles by Schrenzel, M. D.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 2005, p. 1330-1340, Vol. 43, No. 3
0095-1137/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.43.3.1330-1340.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Systemic Disease in Vaal Rhebok (Pelea capreolus) Caused by Mycoplasmas in the Mycoides Cluster

Melissa M. Nicolas,1 Ilse H. Stalis,2 Tracy L. Clippinger,3 Martin Busch,2,{dagger} Robert Nordhausen,4 Gabriel Maalouf,1 and Mark D. Schrenzel1*

Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Conservation and Research for Endangered Species,1 Department of Pathology,2 Department of Veterinary Services, Zoological Society of San Diego, San Diego,3 Electron Microscopy Laboratory, California Animal Health & Food Safety Laboratory System, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, California4

Received 3 August 2004/ Returned for modification 17 October 2004/ Accepted 21 November 2004

In the winter of 2002, an outbreak of mycoplasma infection in Vaal rhebok (Pelea capreolus) originating from South Africa occurred 15 weeks after their arrival in San Diego, Calif. Three rhebok developed inappetence, weight loss, lethargy, signs related to pulmonary or arthral dysfunction, and sepsis. All three rhebok died or were euthanized. Primary postmortem findings were erosive tracheitis, pleuropneumonia, regional cellulitis, and necrotizing lymphadenitis. Mycoplasmas were detected in numerous tissues by electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry, and PCR. The three deceased rhebok were coinfected with ovine herpesvirus-2, and two animals additionally had a novel gammaherpesvirus. However, no lesions indicative of herpesvirus were seen microscopically in any animal. The rheboks' mycoplasmas were characterized at the level of the 16S rRNA gene, the 16S-23S intergenic spacer region, and the fructose biphosphate aldolase gene. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis was carried out to address the possibility of infection with multiple strains. Two of the deceased rhebok were infected with a single strain of Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capricolum, and the third animal had a single, unique strain most closely related to Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides large-colony. A PCR survey of DNA samples from 46 other ruminant species demonstrated the presence of several species of mycoplasmas in the mycoides cluster, including a strain of M. capricolum subsp. capricolum identical to that found in two of the rhebok. These findings demonstrate the pervasiveness of mycoplasmas in the mycoides cluster in small ruminants and the potential for interspecies transmission and disease when different animal taxa come in contact.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center for Conservation Research, Zoological Society of San Diego, 15600 San Pasqual Valley Rd., Escondido, CA 92027. Phone: (760) 291-5466. Fax: (760) 291-5428. E-mail: mschrenzel{at}sandiegozoo.org.

{dagger} Present address: Department of Pathology, Wildlife Health Sciences, Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx Zoo, Bronx, NY 10460.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 2005, p. 1330-1340, Vol. 43, No. 3
0095-1137/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.43.3.1330-1340.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Maigre, L., Citti, C., Marenda, M., Poumarat, F., Tardy, F. (2008). Suppression-Subtractive Hybridization as a Strategy To Identify Taxon-Specific Sequences within the Mycoplasma mycoides Cluster: Design and Validation of an M. capricolum subsp. capricolum-Specific PCR Assay. J. Clin. Microbiol. 46: 1307-1316 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Verbisck-Bucker, G., Gonzalez-Candela, M., Galian, J., Cubero-Pablo, M. J., Martin-Atance, P., Leon-Vizcaino, L. (2008). EPIDEMIOLOGY OF MYCOPLASMA AGALACTIAE INFECTION IN FREE-RANGING SPANISH IBEX (CAPRA PYRENAICA) IN ANDALUSIA, SOUTHERN SPAIN. J Wildl Dis 44: 369-380 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»