Mycoplasma Flashcards
What is the smallest free living bacteria?
Mycoplasma
T/F: Mycoplasma are gram negative
FALSE
They have NO cell wall
(beta lactams are not effective for this reason)
What shape are mycoplasma?
Pleomorphic - usually filament (look similar to fungus)
Mycoplasma belong to class ______
Mollicutes = “soft skin”
What cells do mycoplasma have an affinity for?
ciliated epithelium
*they inhabit mucus membranes of resp. tract and repro tract
T/F: Growing mycoplasma in culture is easy to do
FALSE - they require special media
*they look like a fried egg when then grow
T/F: Generally mycoplasma cause acute infections
FALSE
They cause mild, chronic, and persistent infections (of ciliated epithelium)
***LEADS TO SECONDARY INFECTIONS
Are mycoplasma intracellular or extracellular pathogens?
EXTRACELLULAR
How do mycoplasma evade the host immune system?
Antigenic mimicry by absorbing host cell antigens - leading to antigenic variation of the cell surface
What dx test can be done to confirm the presence of mycoplasma?
*specialized cultures with serum rich media, then
PCR and MALDI TOF
T/F: When mycoplasma infect host RBCs - that can result in hemolytic anemia
TRUE
Is it simple to treat mycoplasma infections? Why or why not?
NO - these are usually multifactorial infections due to secondary infections - so there are many different pathogens and susceptibility ranges in a given infection
What Mycoplasma causes Enzootic pneumonia in swine?
M. hyopneumoniae
M. hyorhinis causes what?
Polyserositis in swine
*usually a herd problem
M. hyosynoviae causes what in swine?
Polyarthritis
M. suis (hemotropic) causes what in swine?
ANEMIA
What are the general characteristics of epizootic pneumonia caused by M. Hyopneumoniae?
Chronic resp. dz with unproductive cough, decreased wt, **anteroventral bronchopneumonia, secondary bacterial infections
*high morbidity, low mortality
What will you notice on a histo taken from the lungs of a pig that died of epizootic pneumonia?
Aggregates of neutrophils
Hyperplasia of the bronchial lymphoid tissue
How is epizootic pneumonia transmitted?
direct contact
is it possible to breed for a SPF herd of swine for mycoplasma?
YES
What mycoplasma of bovines is a foreign reportable dz?
M. mycoides subsp. mycoides
Causes contagious bovine pleuropnemonia
Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides causes what?
Contagious bovine pleuropnemonia (CBPP)
What is a characteristic lesion of CBPP?
Contagious bovine pleuropnemonia -M. mycoides subsp. mycoides
Marbled pattern of the lung (due to inflammation and swelling of the septa)
What clinical signs do you seen in a cow with Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides?
Causes CBPP - chronic respiratory dz, couching, nasal discharge, lethargy - usually persistant - occasionally acute/fatal
T/F: Mycoplasma bovis is part of the “shipping fever complex” aka Bovine respiratory disease complex
TRUE
Along with:
Pasteurella multocida
Mannheimia haemolytic
Histophilus somni (these 3 are gram NEG)
Trueperella pyogens (gram POS)
T/F: M. bovis can cause pneumonia, polyarthritis, and mastitis
TRUE
What mycoplasma are associated with infections of the urogenital tract in cows?
Ureasplasma diversum
Mycoplasma bovigenitalium
How is ureaplasma diversum transmitted?
Sexually transmitted
T/F: Cows contract ureaplasma diversum infections through the environment
FALSE
these can be normal commensal organisms in the lower urogenital tract
Ureaplasma diversum causes what in cows? And what in bulls?
Bulls - seminal vesiculitis
Cows: granular vulvitis, vaginitis, endometritis, and abortion
Is contagious caprine pleuropneumonia a reportable dz in the US?
What pathogen is the causative agent?
Yes - it is reportable
***Fatal disease
Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumonia
What does Mycoplasma agalactia and Mycoplasma putrefaciens cause?
Contagious agalactia of sheep and goats
What are two reportable mycoplasma spps that infect birds?
Mycoplasma gallisepticum and Mycoplasma synovia
M. gallisepticum causes what dz in chicken and turkeys?
chronic respiratory dz
coughing, sneezing, nasal d/c, tracheal rales, sinusitis, thick mucoid exudate, decrease egg production
T/F: M. meleagridis and M. iowae cause respiratory dz, skeletal deformities, and decrease egg hatchability in mainly turkeys
TRUE
M. Synoviae causes all of the following except:
- lameness
- ratarded growth
- paralysis
- swelling of joints
- paralysis
does not occur
T/F: Mycoplasma felis infections occur in horses
TRUE
Horses get a self limiting pleuritic
Cats get mild URI, mucoid conjunctivitis
M gatae causes arthritis and SQ abscess in what animals?
Cats
T/F: Mycoplasma canis causes respiratory infections in dogs
FALSE
Causes urogenital tract dz in both males and female
What spps of mycoplasma causes low grade respiratory dz in lab rats and mice?
Mycoplasma pulmonis
Mycoplasma felis in horses makes them more susceptible to what pathogen?
S. zooepidemicus
T/F: Mycoplasma edwardii is a commensal bacteria on dogs
TRUE
What antimicrobials are often used to tx mycoplasma infections?
macrolides, tetracyclines, lincosamines, fluoroquinolones
What animals have vax available for mycoplasma spps?
swine, bovine, poultry
Where do hemotrophic mycoplasma colonize?
on the surface of red blood cells
**they are difficult to grow
T/F: Animals with hemotrophic mycoplasma infections are often asymptomatic
TRUE
What causes feline infectious anemia?
Mycoplasma hemofelis (haemobartonella)
What are the clinical signs of M. hemofelis infections?
Anemia, icterus (late in infection), fever, depression
What are the vectors for M. hemofelis?
Unsure - most likely fleas, ticks, and or other biting arthropods
Asympotomatic carries are responsible for spread of this dz
What other organisms produce similar clinical signs to M. hemofelis?
Babesia
Cytauxzoon felis
What mycoplasma cause fever and anemia in poorly managed swine?
Mycoplasma hemosuis
also causes splenomegaly
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?
M. hemocanis is extracellular and will be ON the RBC
Babesia in intracellular and will be IN the RBC
