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ARS Home » Plains Area » Clay Center, Nebraska » U.S. Meat Animal Research Center » Genetics and Animal Breeding » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #397379
Research Project: Genomes to Phenomes in Beef Cattle Research

Location: Genetics and Animal Breeding

Title: Detection of Mycoplasma bovirhinis and bovine coronavirus in an outbreak of bovine respiratory disease in nursing beef calves

Author
item McDaneld, Tara
item Workman, Aspen
item Chitko-Mckown, Carol
item Kuehn, Larry
item Dickey, Aaron
item Bennett, Gary

Submitted to: Frontiers in Microbiomes
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/21/2022
Publication Date: 12/15/2022
Citation: McDaneld, T.G., Workman, A.M., Chitko-McKown, C.G., Kuehn, L.A., Dickey, A.M., Bennett, G.L. 2022. Detection of Mycoplasma bovirhinis and bovine coronavirus in an outbreak of bovine respiratory disease in nursing beef calves. Frontiers in Microbiomes. 1. Article 1051241. https://doi.org/10.3389/frmbi.2022.1051241.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/frmbi.2022.1051241

Interpretive Summary: Respiratory disease incidence is intimately associated with an animal’s commensal bacteria populations, as microbes that are involved with morbidity and mortality are commonly found in animals with no sign of disease. In addition, viral pathogens affect the immune system and appear to play an integral role in the overall incidence of bovine respiratory disease (BRD); so, an understanding of the interaction of the bacterial and viral pathogens in the upper respiratory tract (URT) may help us to understand the impact of these pathogens on development of BRD. For this research, the overall goal was to characterize bacterial and viral populations in the URT associated with a BRD outbreak in nursing beef calves. Nasal swabs from the URT were collected at the time of the BRD outbreak, bacterial and viral populations were evaluated. Whole blood was also collected at the time of the outbreak for determination of blood components. Overall, evaluation of these samples revealed all calves were nasally shedding bovine coronavirus and a large percentage had a coinfection with Mycoplasma sp., with Mycoplasma bovirhinis being the predominant species. Values of blood components were also identified to be significantly different between calves based on rectal temperatures. Further, evaluation of the animal’s bacterial and viral populations in the URT in nursing beef calves will improve our understanding of the impact of the microbiome and viral pathogens on incidence of BRD in cattle and may help us to understand incidence of BRD in cattle after weaning in the feedlot.

Technical Abstract: Respiratory disease incidence is intimately associated with an animal’s commensal bacteria populations (microbiome), as microbes that are involved with morbidity and mortality are commonly found in animals with no sign of disease. In addition, viral pathogens affect the immune system and appear to play an integral role in the overall incidence of bovine respiratory disease (BRD); so, an understanding of the interaction of the bacterial and viral pathogens in the upper respiratory tract (URT) may help us to understand the impact of these pathogens on development of BRD. For this research, the overall goal was to characterize bacterial and viral populations in the URT associated with a BRD outbreak in nursing beef calves. Nasal swabs from the URT were collected at the time of the BRD outbreak, and DNA and RNA were extracted from nasal swabs to evaluate bacterial and viral populations. Whole blood was also collected at the time of the outbreak for determination of complete blood counts. To evaluate the microbiome, hypervariable regions 1 through 3 along the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene were amplified by PCR and sequenced using next-generation sequencing (Illumina MiSeq) for identification of the bacterial taxa present. To evaluate the viral pathogens, multiplex reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction and next-generation sequencing (Illumina NextSeq) was completed. Overall, evaluation of these samples revealed all calves were nasally shedding bovine coronavirus and a large percentage had a coinfection with Mycoplasma sp., with Mycoplasma bovirhinis being the predominant species. Values of leukocytes were also identified to be significantly different between calves based on rectal temperatures. Analysis of the respiratory pathogens in the URT during a BRD outbreak will provide insight into the distribution of bacterial and viral populations in nursing beef calves.