Experimental infection of the udder of ewes due to Mycoplasma bovis

Twelve freshly lactating ewes were experimentally infected with 2 Mycoplasma (M.) bovis strains via the teat canal in the left udder. The M. bovis infection produced a febrile clinical mastitis in all infected animals. M. bovis could be re-isolated regularly from the experimentally infected udder halves and the infection spread to the other halves. Some contact animals and 4 suckling lambs became naturally infected. Antibody titres were detected by means of the indirect hemagglutination test in blood sera 2 to 3 weeks post infectionem. The pathological lesions were similar to those of the M. bovis mastitis of cows. By the end of the trial the ewes had recovered from the clinical mastitis.