EXOone Mycoplasma agalactiae

Description

Mycoplasma agalactiae is a wall-less cell of small size (0.2 to 0.3 μm) and a small genome (0.8 to 1.2 Mb). This fastidious and facultative anaerobic germ belongs to the class Mollicutes and requires protein with serum factor and yeast extract for growing. This bacterium has been identified as the main etiological agent of Contagious Agalactia in small ruminants which is endemic in Asia, Africa and Mediterranean countries. The disease is manifested by mastitis, arthritis, keratoconjunctivitis, occasionally abortions and pneumonia. Besides, it can cause serious economical losses by the fall of milk and cheese production and also mortality in lambs.
The relative difficulty to isolate this pathogen and the cross-reactions observed in some serological tests have focused the attention on real time PCR as improved diagnosis tool for the identification of this pathogen.