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. 2024 May 14;11(5):217.
doi: 10.3390/vetsci11050217.

Wildlife-Livestock Host Community Maintains Simultaneous Epidemiologic Cycles of Mycoplasma conjunctivae in a Mountain Ecosystem

Jorge Ramón López-Olvera  1 , Eva Ramírez  1 , Carlos Martínez-Carrasco  2 , José Enrique Granados  3
Affiliations

Wildlife-Livestock Host Community Maintains Simultaneous Epidemiologic Cycles of Mycoplasma conjunctivae in a Mountain Ecosystem

Jorge Ramón López-Olvera et al. Vet Sci. .

Abstract

Infectious keratoconjunctivitis (IKC) is an eye disease caused by Mycoplasma conjunctivae that affects domestic and wild caprines, including Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica), a medium-sized mountain ungulate. However, its role in IKC dynamics in multi-host communities has been poorly studied. This study assessed M. conjunctivae in Iberian ibex and seasonally sympatric domestic small ruminants in the Natural Space of Sierra Nevada (NSSN), a mountain habitat in southern Spain. From 2015 to 2017, eye swabs were collected from 147 ibexes (46 subadults, 101 adults) and 169 adult domestic small ruminants (101 sheep, 68 goats). Mycoplasma conjunctivae was investigated through real-time qPCR and statistically assessed according to species, sex, age category, year, period, and area. The lppS gene of M. conjunctivae was sequenced and phylogenetically analysed. Mycoplasma conjunctivae was endemic and asymptomatic in the host community of the NSSN. Three genetic clusters were shared by ibex and livestock, and one was identified only in sheep, although each host species could maintain the infection independently. Naïve subadults maintained endemic infection in Iberian ibex, with an epizootic outbreak in 2017 when the infection spread to adults. Wild ungulates are epidemiologically key in maintaining and spreading IKC and other shared diseases among spatially segregated livestock flocks.

Keywords: Capra pyrenaica; Iberian ibex; PCR; endemic; epidemiology; infectious keratoconjunctivitis; reservoir.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study area in the Natural Space of Sierra Nevada, including the distribution of the sampled animals and the spatial relation between the wild and domestic sampled animals.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Swab sampling for M. conjunctivae detection from the conjunctival sac below the nictitating membrane in an Iberian ibex from the Natural Space of Sierra Nevada.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Cluster analysis tree of the M. conjunctivae strains detected in the Iberian ibexes and domestic livestock from the Natural Space of Sierra Nevada, including those previously reported in the area [20].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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