Mycoplasmosis in Ferrets

• Main Authors: Matti Kiupel, Danielle R. Desjardins, Ailam Lim, Carole Bolin, Cathy A. Johnson-Delaney, James H. Resau, Michael M. Garner, Steven R. Bolin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2012-11-01
• Series: Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Subjects: ferret; Mustelidae; respiratory tract disease; disease outbreak; Mycoplasma; mycoplasmosis
• Online Access: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/18/11/12-0072_article
• ISSN: 1080-6040; 1080-6059

We report an outbreak of severe respiratory disease associated with a novel Mycoplasma species in ferrets. During 2009–2012, a respiratory disease characterized by nonproductive coughing affected ≈8,000 ferrets, 6–8 weeks of age, which had been imported from a breeding facility in Canada. Almost 95% became ill, but almost none died. Treatments temporarily decreased all clinical signs except cough. Postmortem examinations of euthanized ferrets revealed bronchointerstitial pneumonia with prominent hyperplasia of bronchiole-associated lymphoid tissue. Immunohistochemical analysis with polyclonal antibody against Mycoplasma bovis demonstrated intense staining along the bronchiolar brush border. Bronchoalveolar lavage samples from 12 affected ferrets yielded fast-growing, glucose-fermenting mycoplasmas. Nucleic acid sequence analysis of PCR-derived amplicons from portions of the 16S rDNA and RNA polymerase B genes failed to identify the mycoplasmas but showed that they were most similar to M. molare and M. lagogenitalium. These findings indicate a causal association between the novel Mycoplasma species and the newly recognized pulmonary disease.