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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Animal Disease Center » Ruminant Diseases and Immunology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #374734
Research Project: Identification of Disease Mechanisms and Control Strategies for Bacterial Respiratory Pathogens in Ruminants

Location: Ruminant Diseases and Immunology Research

Title: Mycoplasma bovis results in fatal pneumonia in free-ranging pronghorn (antilocapra americana)

Author
item JOHNSON, MARGUERITE - UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING
item PECKHAM, ERIKA - WYOMING DEPARTMENT OF GAME & FISH
item KILLION, HALLY - WYOMING STATE VETERINARY LABORATORY
item CREEKMORE, TERRY - WYOMING DEPARTMENT OF GAME & FISH
item ALLEN, SAMANTHA - WYOMING DEPARTMENT OF GAME & FISH
item EDWARDS, HANK - WYOMING DEPARTMENT OF GAME & FISH
item VANCE, MADISON - WYOMING STATE VETERINARY LABORATORY
item ASHLEY, REBECCA - WYOMING STATE VETERINARY LABORATORY
item ANDERSON, CHRISTOPHER - UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING
item VASQUEZ, MARCE - UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING
item MILDENBERGER, JIM - WYOMING STATE VETERINARY LABORATORY
item HULL, NOAH - WYOMING STATE VETERINARY LABORATORY
item REGISTER, KAREN
item SONDGEROTH, KERRY - UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING
item MALMBERG, JENNIFER - UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING

Submitted to: The Wildlife Society
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/4/2020
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Mycoplasma bovis (M. bovis) is an economically important bacterial pathogen of cattle that contributes to polymicrobial bovine respiratory disease. Historically limited to cattle, the host range of M. bovis has more recently expanded to include North American bison, in which the bacterium is highly pathogenic. In 2019, we documented M. bovis infection in a fatal disease outbreak involving at least 60 pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) in northeast Wyoming. The bacterium had not previously been reported in pronghorn. In spring of 2020, another outbreak of M. bovis was documented with over 500 pronghorn deaths in same area of Wyoming. The reemergence of M. bovis in the same pronghorn population suggests either a repeat spillover event from cattle, or infection of naïve pronghorn by animals that survived the 2019 outbreak and served as chronic M. bovis carriers in the recent epizootic. We characterized the pathology and genetics of M. bovis in pronghorn and found that isolates from pronghorn are most similar to those from North American cattle, and more distantly related to isolates from bison and deer. We report that pronghorn are at risk of highly virulent respiratory disease following M. bovis infection, which could have population-level impacts on this sensitive and unique species.