A field study of Mycoplasma bovis infection in cattle.

After an outbreak of mastitis in cattle caused by Mycoplasma bovis a study was made in 5 herds with recent cases (principal herds) and in 4 control herds. In the principal herds, M. bovis was isolated from milk samples, nasal swabs, and from one vaginal swab. M. bovis was also isolated from nasal swabs of calves in 2 of the 4 control herds, whereas all milk samples and vaginal swabs from the control herds were negative. Evaluation of serum antibody titres to M. bovis among non-mastitic animals of 3 principal herds and 1 control herd showed no difference in distribution of the titre values, which generally were low. However, cows excreting M. bovis in the milk had high antibody titres. The way of introduction to the herds and the spread of the infection within the herds could not be established by the study, which was supplemented by a DNA restriction fragment analysis of a number of M. bovis isolates.