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Epidemiological typing of bovine streptococci by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 1999

S. M. WANG
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Biology and Biotechnology, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
M. A. DEIGHTON
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Biology and Biotechnology, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
J. A. CAPSTICK
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Biology and Biotechnology, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
N. GERRATY
Affiliation:
VetBiosearch Pty Ltd
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Abstract

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Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was used to investigate the epidemiology of streptococcal mastitis in dairy cattle. The most prevalent streptococcal species, Streptococcus uberis (60–80% of streptococcal isolates), was highly heterogeneous, with different cows only rarely sharing the same pulsotype. S. agalactiae was rarely encountered, however all eight isolates from one farm generated identical PFGE profiles, which differed from those of all other isolates examined, confirming cow-to-cow transmission. Fifty-two isolates of S. dysgalactiae from 27 cows on 5 farms generated 6 different profiles. However, on individual farms, only one or two pulsotypes usually predominated. This species is generally regarded as an environmental pathogen but our data suggest that cow-to-cow transmission of S. dysgalactiae may occur. In spite of the variation in PFGE profiles of isolates from different cows, persistent infections in individual cows were usually caused by the same pulsotype of S. uberis or S. dysgalactiae.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1999 Cambridge University Press