Molecular characterization of local isolates of Mycoplasma capricolum sub specie Capripneumoniae in goats (Capra hircus) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,Pakistan

Caprine mycoplasmosis is an important infectious respiratory complication lead to significant health issue and causes heavy economic losses in small ruminant population throughout the world. the study was designed to identify and characterize the pathogenic member of mycoplasma cluster the mycoplasma capricolum sub specie capripneumoniae (mccp) isolated from goat suffering from respiratory syndrome in the natural outbreak. the study was carried out during november,2013 to april,2015 in the khyber pakhtunkhwa (kpk),pakistan. a total of 825 samples from nasal discharge,tracheal swab,pleural fluid and lung tissue were collected from goat clinically suspected for contagious caprine pleuro pneumonia (ccpp). the samples taken in pplo transport media were cultured on modified hay flick media and incubated at 37° c with 5% co2 for 7-12 days. out of total 267 (32.36%) were positive for mycoplasma growth showing mass turbidity,whirling movement in culture broth and typical fried egg colonies in agar media. the positive culture was identified through biochemical assay and confirmed as mccp through pcr by using cluster and specie specific primers. out of 267 positive samples 55 (20.59%) were confirmed as mycoplasma mycoides cluster and 23 (8.61%) were identified as mccp. sequencing of the 16-s rrna gene blast search revealed 99% sequence homology with mccp compared with eight available sequences at ncbi. the presence of mccp was for the first time reported in small ruminants of khyber pakhtunkhwa. © 2016 pvj.