First outbreak of bovine mastitis caused by Prototheca blaschkeae

The most important animal disease caused by yeast-like algae belonging to the genus Prototheca is bovine mastitis. Although the infection can be caused by both Prototheca zopfii genotype 2 and Prototheca blaschkeae, the bulk of prevalence of bovine protothecal mastitis has been so far attributed to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Veterinary microbiology 2013-03, Vol.162 (2-4), p.997-999
Main Authors: Ricchi, M., De Cicco, C., Buzzini, P., Cammi, G., Arrigoni, N., Cammi, M., Garbarino, C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bovine mastitis
Cattle
Disease Outbreaks - veterinary
Environment
Female
Genotype
Italy - epidemiology
Mastitis, Bovine - epidemiology
Mastitis, Bovine - microbiology
Milk
Milk - microbiology
Outbreak
Prototheca
Prototheca - genetics
Prototheca - isolation & purification
Prototheca blaschkeae
Prototheca zopfii
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Summary:The most important animal disease caused by yeast-like algae belonging to the genus Prototheca is bovine mastitis. Although the infection can be caused by both Prototheca zopfii genotype 2 and Prototheca blaschkeae, the bulk of prevalence of bovine protothecal mastitis has been so far attributed to the former, being P. blaschkeae only sporadically isolated. However, we report here the first outbreak of bovine mastitis caused by P. blaschkeae in an Italian dairy herd. One hundred and four individual milk samples, three bulk tank milk and 16 environmental samples within the herd were screened for the presence of Prototheca: five, one and four positive samples, were respectively observed. Molecular analysis revealed that, with the sole exception of one environmental isolate belonging to P. zopfii genotype 2, all Prototheca strains were identified as P. blaschkeae. Our results might suggest that even P. blaschkeae can induce mastitis outbreaks, while it is not clear if the higher incidence of P. zopfii genotype 2 as causative agent of protothecal mastitis could reflect an intrinsic higher pathogenicity or it could be simply the consequence of its, so far observed, higher diffusion in worldwide dairy herd ecosystems.
ISSN:0378-1135
1873-2542
DOI:10.1016/j.vetmic.2012.11.003