Teaming up for animal health
Mycoplasma arthritis outbreaks in dairy herds M. Holzhauer, R. Dijkman, E. van Engelen, M.A. Gonggrijp and K. Junker GD Animal Health, PO Box 9, 7400 AA Deventer, the Netherlands
Introduction Mycoplasma is well known as cause of pneumonia and other problems (among others arthritis) in veal calves and incidentally found as a cause of mastitis problems. Until 2012 there were individual cow-cases of arthritis in The Netherlands. Since herd outbreaks of Mycoplasma arthritis, GD perfomed a pilot investigation to get better insight into the clinical and pathological presentation, the type of bacteriae found and the epidemiological aspects of an outbreak.
Material and Methods • 16 case herds mainly located in the Northern part of the Netherlands. • Investigation of the problems present (front/hind leg, joints affected), mastitis, pneumonia (cows and calves). • Herd size and current status of disease programs (BHV1, BVDV, Salmonellosis etc.). • Herd management: purchase of cattle, vaccinations performed, professional contacts, feed supplier and this was compared with 2 control herds (same size, same practice). • Bacteriological investigation of punctures and milk (culturing, PCR), serological (antibody Elisa (Bio-X, Belgium)). • All mycoplasma isolates were forwarded to the Tierärztliche Hochschule (TiHo) in Hannover for specific typing. • All mycoplasma isolates (from joint infections dairy cows/calves, pneumonia cases calves, and (clinical) mastitis samples) were genotyped using Multi Locus VNTR Analysis (MLVA) typing to determine relatedness of the isolated M. bovis isolates both within and between herds. • Statistical analysis: invariable analysis (logistic regression P-waarde <0,25, Stata 12 2011) followed by a multivariable analysis.
Table 1. Associations with the presence of cows with arthritis in a dairy herd, results multivariable analysis. Variable
OR
P-value
95% CI
0,046
1,03 – 35,77
Purchase cattle No
Ref.
Ye
6,08
Cattle vaccinated No
Ref.
Yes
3,86
0,102
0,77 – 19,43
Supplier A
6,56
0,025
1,26 – 34,06
Other suppliers
Ref.
Protein perc.
2,61
0,043
1,03 – 6,61
Feed supplier
Survey • Relationships with parity, stage of lactation or breed. • Mean herd size affected herds larger (183 dairy cows) than average herd size in The Netherlands (91 dairy cows; CBS 2013). • Herds mainly located in certain region of the country. • Matched case-control multivariable analysis. Case herds significantly associated with purchase of cattle, a higher protein percentage in milk, vaccination of cattle feed supplier (Tabel 1).
Take home messages • Mycoplasma in dairy industry is emerging • Clinical problem in the Netherlands mainly arthritis in dairy cows • Diagnostics: culture, PCR, serology • Prognosis: moderate to poor
M. Bovis typing with MLVA (Multiple-Locus Variable number tandem repeat Analysis)
Results of puncture of a normal, unaffected (left, clear) and a mycoplasma affected (right, cloudy with pieces of tissue) carpal joint
Results • Average% of affected cows with arthritis was 7.7% (SD: 4.5%). • Average% of affected cows with mastitis was 1.8%. • 99% of the casus mycoplasma as the only pathogen was isolated, single case of Streptococcus. • Mycoplasma typed as Mycoplasma bovis (M. bovis) in 100% of the casus (TiHo, Hannover, Germany). • 60% of the herds, both arthritis and mastitis associated with M. bovis. • 3% of the cows M. bovis strain isolated from the affected joint and the mastitis milk. • Respiratory problems of replacement calves were reported in < 50 of the herds (aetiology not further investigated, 1 single herd mycoplasma proven in calves). • None of the herds respiratory problems in the dairy cows. • At post mortem examination: - Acute or chronic serofibrinous to purulent inflammation (septic arthritis): frontleg fetlock or carpal joint or the hock joint. - 1 cow polyarthritis. - Chronic peri-articular inflammation of soft tissue (periarthritis) and chronic (necrotizing) mastitis. - No lung lesions found in any of these cows.
Clinical presentation of a typical mycoplasma affected joint of a front leg (calor, dolor, rubor and tumor)
Pathological presentation of a mycoplasma affected joint (chronic serofibrinous to purulent inflammation), and a normal joint of the same cow
GD, P.O. Box 9, 7400 AA Deventer, the Netherlands, T. +31 (0)570-63 33 91, F. +31 (0)570-63 41 04 www.gdanimalhealth.com, info@gdanimalhealth.com
GDOV0810/06-16
Contact: m.holzhauer@gddiergezondheid.nl