Isolation rate and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of Mycoplasma mycoides subspecies capri field isolates from sheep and goats in Pakistan

Mycoplasmosis, the respiratory infection, is a well-established cause of heavy economic losses in sheep and goats farming. The occurrence and antibiotics susceptibility profiles of clinical isolates of Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. capri (Mmc) from suspected cases of contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP) were investigated in small ruminants of three climatic- southern, central and northern- regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Specie specific-PCR for Mmc confirmed 24% (198/825) isolates with significantly (P ˂ 0.001) higher number (83/275; 30.18%) recovered from the northern-, followed by southern- (68/275; 24.73%) and central-regions (47/275; 17.09%), respectively. Subsequently, a total of 54 PCR-confirmed isolates (18 from each zone) were subjected to antibiogram assay. Five different common antimicrobial agents including ceftiofur, enrofloxacin, gentamycin, oxytetracycline and tylosin were tested by disc diffusion and broth microdilution methods The antibiotic susceptibility profiles of Mmc isolates indicated that enrofloxacin exhibited the highest (P ˂ 0.001) in vitro antibacterial activity with a maximum zone of inhibition (19 ± 0.71 mm) and the lowest MIC (0.001 ± 0.0002 mg/mL) amongst the tested antimicrobial agents, followed by gentamycin (11 ± 0.45 mm and 0.01 ± 0.001 mg/mL zone of inhibition and MIC, respectively). All these isolates were found resistant against tylosin, oxytetracycline and ceftiofur sodium: antibiotics that are favored in clinical cases of CCPP. This study concludes a high occurrence of Mmc in small ruminants during infection of CCPP, and increased resistance rate against commonly used antibiotics.