Publication: Wildlife-livestock host community maintains simultaneous epidemiologic cycles of Mycoplasma conjunctivae in a mountain ecosystem
Authors
López-Olvera, Jorge Ramón ; Ramírez, Eva ; Martínez-Carrasco Pleite, Carlos ; Granados, José Enrique
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Facultad de Veterinaria
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Publisher
MDPI
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DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci11050217
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info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Description
Abstract
Infectious keratoconjunctivitis is an eye disease caused by Mycoplasma conjunctivae hat affects domestic and wild caprines, including Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica) and domestic sheep and goats. This study assessed M. conjunctivae in the host community of the Natural Space of Sierra Nevada (NSSN), a mountain habitat in southern Spain. Mycoplasma conjunctivae strains circulated endemically without causing clinical signs in Iberian ibex and livestock, either shared or maintained independently by each host species. In Iberian ibex, endemic infection was maintained by naïve subadults, with an epizootic outbreak when the infection spread to adults. Goat was at least as important as sheep in maintaining M. conjunctivae. The results suggest that the epidemiological role of wild ungulates should be considered in mountain ecosystems, as their mobility may contribute to the spread of IKC and other shared pathogens among spatially segregated livestock flocks.
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Citation
Vet. Sci. 2024, 11, 217
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