Mycoplasmoses of ruminants in France: recent data from the national surveillance network

Ruminant mycoplasmoses are important diseases worldwide and several are listed by the World Organization for Animal Health to be of major economic significance. In France the distribution of mycoplasmal species isolated from clinical samples collected from diseased animals upon veterinary request, is monitored by a network known as VIGIMYC (for VIGIlance to MYCoplasmoses of ruminants). The veterinary diagnostic laboratories collaborating with VIGIMYC are responsible for isolating the mycoplasmas while identification of the isolates is centralized by the French Food Safety Agency (AFSSA) in Lyon. The VIGIMYC framework can also be used for specific surveys and one example, on the prevalence of M. bovis in bovine respiratory diseases, is presented here.

Between 2003 and 2008, 34 laboratories were involved in the network and 1904 mycoplasma isolates, originating from the main ruminant-breeding areas, were identified. For cattle, the high prevalence of M. bovis in bronchopneumonia, notably in young animals, was confirmed by VIGIMYC and an associated specific survey, whereas the non-emergence of species such as M. alkalescens and M. canis was also demonstrated. The etiological agent of bovine contagious pleuropneumonia was never isolated. The principal mycoplasmosis in goats was contagious agalactia with M. mycoides subsp. capri as main agent. Ovine mycoplasmoses, most of which were associated with pneumonia in lambs, were infrequently reported. One exception was ovine contagious agalactia (due to M. agalactiae) that has recently re-emerged in the Pyrénées where it had been endemic for years and was also reported in Corsica, which was previously considered free.

Although VIGIMYC is a passive network and somewhat biased as regards sample collection and processing, it has provided, in this study, an overview of the main mycoplasmoses of ruminants in France. The French epidemiological situation is compared to those existing elsewhere in the world.