[Incidence of mycoplasma mastitis in Czechoslovakia]

By the mycoplasmic examination of 143 dairy cows exhibiting clinical signs of mastitis, Mycoplasma californicum and M. bovigenitalium were detected as the causal agents of the disease at two localities. The occurrence of specific antibodies in milk, and/or blood serum, was characteristic of the course of the disease, as documented by the results of the examination of more than 300 samples. In some milk samples taken from cows suffering from mastitis of obscure etiology and obtained from State Veterinary Institutes, antibodies to some of the five species of bovine Mycoplasma involved in the disease were found at 22 localities. The antibodies were detected by means of the indirect haemagglutination test and ELISA method. Both these tests are suitable for such an examination, as indicated by the comparison of the results.