Mycoplasmosis in Ferrets - - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC
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Mycoplasmosis in Ferrets
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Abstract
We report an outbreak of severe respiratory disease associated with a novel Mycoplasma species in ferrets. During 2009–2012, a respiratory disease characterized by nonproductive coughing affected ≈8,000 ferrets, 6–8 weeks of age, which had been imported from a breeding facility in Canada. Almost 95% became ill, but almost none died. Treatments temporarily decreased all clinical signs except cough. Postmortem examinations of euthanized ferrets revealed bronchointerstitial pneumonia with prominent hyperplasia of bronchiole-associated lymphoid tissue. Immunohistochemical analysis with polyclonal antibody against Mycoplasma bovis demonstrated intense staining along the bronchiolar brush border. Bronchoalveolar lavage samples from 12 affected ferrets yielded fast-growing, glucose-fermenting mycoplasmas. Nucleic acid sequence analysis of PCR-derived amplicons from portions of the 16S rDNA and RNA polymerase B genes failed to identify the mycoplasmas but showed that they were most similar to M. molare and M. lagogenitalium. These findings indicate a causal association between the novel Mycoplasma species and the newly recognized pulmonary disease.In 2007, in the state of Washington, USA, an outbreak of respiratory disease characterized by a dry, nonproductive cough was observed in 6- to 8-week-old ferrets at a US distribution center of a commercial pet vendor (Video). Over a 4-year period, ≈8,000 ferrets, equal numbers of both sexes, were affected. Every 2–3 weeks, kits had been shipped in groups of 150–200 from a commercial breeding facility in Canada to the distribution center. At 5 weeks of age, before shipment to the distribution center, each kit received a single vaccination for distemper (DISTEM R-TC; Schering Plough, Kenilworth, NJ, USA).
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