Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-ndmmz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-30T12:26:44.865Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Outbreak of subclinical mastitis in a flock of dairy goats associated with atypical Staphylococcus haemolyticus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 October 2008

Gabriel Leitner ,
Shlom Sela ,
Orly Hammer-Muntz ,
Doni Zivotofsky ,
Limor Weisblit ,
Marcelo Chaffer  and
Shmuel Zamir
Gabriel Leitner*
Affiliation:
National Mastitis Center, Kimron Veterinary Institute, PO Box 12, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Shlom Sela
Affiliation:
Microbial Food-Safety Research Unit, Department of Food Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, PO Box 6, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Orly Hammer-Muntz
Affiliation:
Microbial Food-Safety Research Unit, Department of Food Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, PO Box 6, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Doni Zivotofsky
Affiliation:
Clinical Veterinarian, Jerusalem, Israel
Limor Weisblit
Affiliation:
National Mastitis Center, Kimron Veterinary Institute, PO Box 12, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Marcelo Chaffer
Affiliation:
Bacteriology Division, Kimron Veterinary Institute, PO Box 12, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Shmuel Zamir
Affiliation:
Chief Sheep and Goat Health Officer, The Israeli Veterinary Services and Animal Health, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
*
*For correspondence; e-mail: leitnerg@moag.gov.il
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Staphylococcus haemolyticus is a pathogen frequently isolated from dairy cows and small ruminants. However, it always appears in only a few animals and not as a major pathogen. Recently, in a dairy goat herd of approximately 250 milking animals, 25·6% (46/180 goats) had milk cultures with atypical highly mucoid colonies accompanied by elevated somatic cell counts. The isolates were identified as Staph. haemolyticus. The present study describes the steps used in an attempt to identify the bacterium and to compare it with other coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) including Staph. haemolyticus. Species identification performed with the API STAPH-IDENT 32 kit showed >99·4% identity confirmed by 16S rDNA sequencing tests. Microscopically the atypical Staph. haemolyticus strains showed unique cuboidal tetrad clusters reminiscent of those of the genus Sarcina. The outbreak caused by an atypical CNS underlines the need for accurate biochemical and genetic methods for ultimate identification of CNS to the species level.

Keywords

Staphylococcus haemolyticusmastitisgoat
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Dairy Research , Volume 76 , Issue 1 , February 2009 , pp. 1 - 5
Copyright
Copyright © Proprietors of Journal of Dairy Research 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Altschul, SF, Madden, TL, Schaffer, AA, Zhang, JH, Zhang, Z, Miller, W & Lipman, DJ 1997 Gapped BLAST and PSI-BLAST: a new generation of protein database programs. Nucleic Acids Research 25 3389–3402CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amann, RI, Ludwig, W & Schleifer, KH 1995 Phylogenetic identification and in-situ detection of individual microbial cells without cultivation. Microbiological Reviews 59 143–169CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bauer, AW, Kirby, WMM, Sherris, JC & Turck, M 1966 Antibiotic susceptibility testing by a standardized single disk method. American Journal of Clinical Pathology 45 493–496CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Balows, A, Hausler, JW, Herrmann, LK, Isenberg, DH & Shadomy, HJ 1991 Manual of Clinical Microbiology, pp. 222–237. Washington DC, USA: American Society for MicrobiologyGoogle Scholar
Barnes-Pallesen, FD, Blackmer, P, Britten, A, Bushnell, BR, Van Damme, MD & Wellcome, F 1987 Laboratory and Field Handbook on Bovine Mastitis, Vol. 1, pp. 3–208. Arlington VA, USA: NMC IncGoogle Scholar
Bergonier, D & Berthelot, X 2003 New advances in epizootiology and control of ewe mastitis. Livestock Production Science 79 1–16CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bergonier, D, De Cremoux, R, Rupp, R, Lagriffoul, G & Berthelot, X 2003 Mastitis of dairy small ruminants. Veterinary Research 34 689–716CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chaffer, M, Leitner, G, Zamir, S, Winkler, M, Glickman, A, Ziv, N & Saran, A 2003 Efficacy of dry-off treatment in sheep. Small Ruminant Research 47 11–16CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haenlein, GFW 2002 Relationship of somatic cell counts in goat milk to mastitis and productivity. Small Ruminant Research 45 163–178CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, SM & Rycroft, AN 2007 Causative organisms and somatic cell counts in subclinical intramammary infections in milking goats in the UK. Veterinary Record 160 19–22CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hartas, J, Hibble, M & Sriprakash, KS 1998 Simplification of a locus-specific DNA typing method (Vir typing) for Streptococcus pyogenes. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 36 1428–1429CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Janosi, S & Baltay, Z 2004 Correlations among the somatic cell count of individual bulk milk, result of the California Mastitis Test and bacteriological status of the udder in dairy cows. Acta Veterinaria Hungarica 52 173–183CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Las Heras, A, Dominguez, L, Lopez, I, Paya, MJ, Pena, L, Mazzucchelli, F, Garcia, LA & Fernandez-Garayzabal, JF 2000 Intramammary Aspergillus fumigatus infection in dairy ewes associated with antibiotic dry therapy. Veterinary Record 147 578–580CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leitner, G, Chaffer, M, Zamir, S, Mor, T, Glickman, A, Winkler, M, Weisblit, L & Saran, A 2000 Udder disease etiology, milk somatic cell counts and NAGase activity throughout lactation in Israeli Assaf sheep. Small Ruminant Research 39 107–112CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leitner, G, Chaffer, M, Caraso, Y, Ezra, E, Kababea, D, Winkler, M, Glickman, A & Saran, A 2003 Udder infection and milk somatic cell count, NAGase activity and milk composition – fat, protein and lactose – in Israeli-Assaf and Awassi sheep. Small Ruminant Research 49 157–164CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leitner, G, Chaffer, M, Shamay, A, Shapiro, F, Merin, U, Ezra, E, Saran, A & Silanikove, N 2004a Changes in milk composition as affected by subclinical mastitis in sheep. Journal of Dairy Science 87 46–52CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leitner, G, Merin, U & Silanikove, N 2004b Changes in milk composition as affected by subclinical mastitis in goats. Journal of Dairy Science 87 1719–1726CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leitner, G, Merin, U, Silanikove, N, Ezra, E, Chaffer, M, Gollop, N, Winkler, M, Glickman, A & Saran, A 2004c Effect of subclinical intramammary infection on somatic cell counts, NAGase activity and gross composition of goats' milk. Journal of Dairy Research 71 311–315CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oliver, SP, Gonzalez, RN, Hogan, JS, Jayarao, BM & Owens, WE 2004 Microbiological procedures for the diagnosis of bovine udder infection and determination of milk quality. 4th Edition. Verona WI, USA: National Mastitis Council, IncGoogle Scholar
Pitkala, A, Haveri, M, Pyorala, S, Myllys, V & Honkanen-Buzalski, T 2004 Bovine mastitis in Finland 2001 – prevalence, distribution of bacteria, and antimicrobial resistance. Journal of Dairy Science 87 2433–2441CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Poutrel, B, de Cremoux, R, Ducelliez, M & Verneau, D 1997 Control of intramammary infections in goats: impact on somatic cell counts. Journal of Animal Science 75 566–570CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilson, DJ, Gonzalez, RN & Das, HH 1997. Bovine mastitis pathogens in New York and Pennsylvania: Prevalence and effects on somatic cell count and milk production. Journal of Dairy Science 80 2592–2598CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed