A survey of Mycoplasma arginini and other agents from subacute and chronic ovine pneumonia in Iran

Abstract

This survey was carried out to find the aetiologic agents of subacute to chronic ovine pneumonia which is ranked amongst the most prevalent disease syndromes of sheep in Iran. Mycoplasma arginini was isolated from 79% (49 out of 62) of pneumonic lungs. The higher frequency of M. arginini in pneumonic lungs (79%), compared with its low prevalence in apparently normal ones (6.5%), and the type of histopathologic reactions observed in affected tissues, indicate that this agent might have an important role in producing ovine pneumonia. In some cases, other bacteria such as Pasteurella multocida, Pasteurella haemolytica, Streptococcus sp. and Corynebacterium sp. were isolated. Cultures for viruses were negative and, according to histopathologic examinations, there was no evidence of chlamydial infection. Dictyocaulus filaria and Protostrongylus rufescens were isolated from lungs with verminous pneumonia.