Mycoplasma

Question 1

What is the smallest free living bacteria?

Answer 1

Mycoplasma

Question 2

T/F: Mycoplasma are gram negative

Answer 2

FALSE

They have NO cell wall

(beta lactams are not effective for this reason)

Question 3

What shape are mycoplasma?

Answer 3

Pleomorphic - usually filament (look similar to fungus)

Question 4

Mycoplasma belong to class ______

Answer 4

Mollicutes = “soft skin”

Question 5

What cells do mycoplasma have an affinity for?

Answer 5

ciliated epithelium

*they inhabit mucus membranes of resp. tract and repro tract

Question 6

T/F: Growing mycoplasma in culture is easy to do

Answer 6

FALSE - they require special media

*they look like a fried egg when then grow

Question 7

T/F: Generally mycoplasma cause acute infections

Answer 7

FALSE

They cause mild, chronic, and persistent infections (of ciliated epithelium)
***LEADS TO SECONDARY INFECTIONS

Question 8

Are mycoplasma intracellular or extracellular pathogens?

Answer 8

EXTRACELLULAR

Question 9

How do mycoplasma evade the host immune system?

Answer 9

Antigenic mimicry by absorbing host cell antigens - leading to antigenic variation of the cell surface

Question 10

What dx test can be done to confirm the presence of mycoplasma?

Answer 10

*specialized cultures with serum rich media, then

PCR and MALDI TOF

Question 11

T/F: When mycoplasma infect host RBCs - that can result in hemolytic anemia

Answer 11

TRUE

Question 12

Is it simple to treat mycoplasma infections? Why or why not?

Answer 12

NO - these are usually multifactorial infections due to secondary infections - so there are many different pathogens and susceptibility ranges in a given infection

Question 13

What Mycoplasma causes Enzootic pneumonia in swine?

Answer 13

M. hyopneumoniae

Question 14

M. hyorhinis causes what?

Answer 14

Polyserositis in swine

*usually a herd problem

Question 15

M. hyosynoviae causes what in swine?

Answer 15

Polyarthritis

Question 16

M. suis (hemotropic) causes what in swine?

Answer 16

ANEMIA

Question 17

What are the general characteristics of epizootic pneumonia caused by M. Hyopneumoniae?

Answer 17

Chronic resp. dz with unproductive cough, decreased wt, **anteroventral bronchopneumonia, secondary bacterial infections

*high morbidity, low mortality

Question 18

What will you notice on a histo taken from the lungs of a pig that died of epizootic pneumonia?

Answer 18

Aggregates of neutrophils

Hyperplasia of the bronchial lymphoid tissue

Question 19

How is epizootic pneumonia transmitted?

Answer 19

direct contact

Question 20

is it possible to breed for a SPF herd of swine for mycoplasma?

Answer 20

YES

Question 21

What mycoplasma of bovines is a foreign reportable dz?

Answer 21

M. mycoides subsp. mycoides

Causes contagious bovine pleuropnemonia

Question 22

Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides causes what?

Answer 22

Contagious bovine pleuropnemonia (CBPP)

Question 23

What is a characteristic lesion of CBPP?

Answer 23

Contagious bovine pleuropnemonia -M. mycoides subsp. mycoides
Marbled pattern of the lung (due to inflammation and swelling of the septa)

Question 24

What clinical signs do you seen in a cow with Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides?

Answer 24

Causes CBPP - chronic respiratory dz, couching, nasal discharge, lethargy - usually persistant - occasionally acute/fatal

Question 25

T/F: Mycoplasma bovis is part of the "shipping fever complex" aka Bovine respiratory disease complex

Answer 25

TRUE Along with: Pasteurella multocida Mannheimia haemolytic Histophilus somni (these 3 are gram NEG) Trueperella pyogens (gram POS)

Question 26

T/F: M. bovis can cause pneumonia, polyarthritis, and mastitis

Answer 26

TRUE

Question 27

What mycoplasma are associated with infections of the urogenital tract in cows?

Answer 27

Ureasplasma diversum | Mycoplasma bovigenitalium

Question 28

How is ureaplasma diversum transmitted?

Answer 28

Sexually transmitted

Question 29

T/F: Cows contract ureaplasma diversum infections through the environment

Answer 29

FALSE these can be normal commensal organisms in the lower urogenital tract

Question 30

Ureaplasma diversum causes what in cows? And what in bulls?

Answer 30

Bulls - seminal vesiculitis Cows: granular vulvitis, vaginitis, endometritis, and abortion

Question 31

Is contagious caprine pleuropneumonia a reportable dz in the US? What pathogen is the causative agent?

Answer 31

Yes - it is reportable ***Fatal disease Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumonia

Question 32

What does Mycoplasma agalactia and Mycoplasma putrefaciens cause?

Answer 32

Contagious agalactia of sheep and goats

Question 33

What are two reportable mycoplasma spps that infect birds?

Answer 33

Mycoplasma gallisepticum and Mycoplasma synovia

Question 34

M. gallisepticum causes what dz in chicken and turkeys?

Answer 34

chronic respiratory dz coughing, sneezing, nasal d/c, tracheal rales, sinusitis, thick mucoid exudate, decrease egg production

Question 35

T/F: M. meleagridis and M. iowae cause respiratory dz, skeletal deformities, and decrease egg hatchability in mainly turkeys

Answer 35

TRUE

Question 36

M. Synoviae causes all of the following except: 1. lameness 2. ratarded growth 3. paralysis 4. swelling of joints

Answer 36

3. paralysis does not occur

Question 37

T/F: Mycoplasma felis infections occur in horses

Answer 37

TRUE Horses get a self limiting pleuritic Cats get mild URI, mucoid conjunctivitis

Question 38

M gatae causes arthritis and SQ abscess in what animals?

Answer 38

Cats

Question 39

T/F: Mycoplasma canis causes respiratory infections in dogs

Answer 39

FALSE Causes urogenital tract dz in both males and female

Question 40

What spps of mycoplasma causes low grade respiratory dz in lab rats and mice?

Answer 40

Mycoplasma pulmonis

Question 41

Mycoplasma felis in horses makes them more susceptible to what pathogen?

Answer 41

S. zooepidemicus

Question 42

T/F: Mycoplasma edwardii is a commensal bacteria on dogs

Answer 42

TRUE

Question 43

What antimicrobials are often used to tx mycoplasma infections?

Answer 43

macrolides, tetracyclines, lincosamines, fluoroquinolones

Question 44

What animals have vax available for mycoplasma spps?

Answer 44

swine, bovine, poultry

Question 45

Where do hemotrophic mycoplasma colonize?

Answer 45

on the surface of red blood cells **they are difficult to grow

Question 46

T/F: Animals with hemotrophic mycoplasma infections are often asymptomatic

Answer 46

TRUE

Question 47

What causes feline infectious anemia?

Answer 47

Mycoplasma hemofelis (haemobartonella)

Question 48

What are the clinical signs of M. hemofelis infections?

Answer 48

Anemia, icterus (late in infection), fever, depression

Question 49

What are the vectors for M. hemofelis?

Answer 49

Unsure - most likely fleas, ticks, and or other biting arthropods Asympotomatic carries are responsible for spread of this dz

Question 50

What other organisms produce similar clinical signs to M. hemofelis?

Answer 50

Babesia | Cytauxzoon felis

Question 51

What mycoplasma cause fever and anemia in poorly managed swine?

Answer 51

Mycoplasma hemosuis also causes splenomegaly

Question 52

If you are looking at a canine blood smear, and see small organisms that look like M. hemocanis and babesia, how can you determine which one you are looking at?

Answer 52

M. hemocanis is extracellular and will be ON the RBC Babesia in intracellular and will be IN the RBC