| Abstrakt: |
The stage of pink-eye infection in 178 sheep was determined by clinical assessment and cytological features. Mycoplasmas were isolated more frequently from the acute stage of the disease. Light and electron microscope studies of smears and sections from infected conjunctivae, and of concentrated mycoplasma suspensions, illustrated the structural similarity between the pink-eye agent and mycoplasma isolates. This interrelationship was confirmed by specific immunofluorescent staining of the pink-eye agent in sheep and goat conjunctival smears. Characterisation methods indicated that mycoplasmas isolated from the conjunctivae of sheep and goats with pink-eye were similar. They were distinct from mycoplasmas of nasal and possible nasal origin isolated from sheep with pink-eye, and different from Mycoplasma arginini and human mycoplasmas. The pink-eye condition was reproduced in normal sheep and goats by ocular inoculation of conjunctival mycoplasma isolates or conjunctival scrapings from diseased animals, although experimental infection was not uniformly successful. The requirements necessary to demonstrate unequivocal mycoplasma aetiology of pink-eye are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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