Investigation of hemotropic Mycoplasmas in fetuses and sows with reproductive failure

Luiz Carlos Bordin; Danielle Gava; Karina Sonalio; Marina Lopes Mechler-Dreibi; Janice Reis Ciacci Zanella; Nelson Morés; Luís Guilherme de Oliveira; Eliana Knackfuss Vaz

doi:10.1016/j.vas.2021.100175

Investigation of hemotropic Mycoplasmas in fetuses and sows with reproductive failure

Vet Anim Sci. 2021 Mar 30:12:100175. doi: 10.1016/j.vas.2021.100175. eCollection 2021 Jun.

Authors

Luiz Carlos Bordin¹, Danielle Gava¹, Karina Sonalio², Marina Lopes Mechler-Dreibi², Janice Reis Ciacci Zanella¹, Nelson Morés¹, Luís Guilherme de Oliveira², Eliana Knackfuss Vaz³

Affiliations

¹ Embrapa Suínos e Aves, Animal Health Laboratory, Concórdia, SC, Brazil.
² São Paulo State University, School of Agricultural and Veterinarian Sciences, FCAV/Unesp, Brazil.
³ Santa Catarina State University, Centro de Ciências Agroveterinárias, Lages, SC, Brazil.

Abstract

Swine eperythrozoonosis or porcine hemoplasmosis is an infectious disease caused mainly by Mycoplasma suis and is distributed worldwide. This study investigated the occurrence of porcine hemothropic mycoplasmas (PHMs) in fetuses and sows with reproductive failure. Two hundred and seventy-six samples (80 sows' blood and 196 fetal tissue samples) from 27 farms with reproductive disorders were evaluated. The PHMs DNA was detected in 15 out of 80 (18.7%) sows but it was not detected in the fetuses. The bacterial load ranged from 1.32 × 10² to 2.61 × 10⁵ copies/µL. From the 27 tested herds, 11 (40.7%) showed at least one positive sow per farm. The majority of the reproductive problems observed in PMHs positive sows were stillborn fetuses (46.7%) and stillborn associated with fetal mummification (26.7%). So, we evidenced that porcine hemoplasmas circulate among sows in Brazilian herds, however, its real impact on reproductive problems remains unknown.

Keywords: Eperythrozoonosis; Reproductive diseases; Swine; qPCR.