Resumen de Improvement of bacteriological diagnosis for intra-mammary infectionsand contagious agalactia in small ruminants

D. Bergonier, S. Perennes, B. Toutain, Gilles Foucras

• The optimisation of udder pathogens detection is needed for both animalhealth management and milk bacteriological safety control. Severalstrategies are possible (PCR, sequencing, mass spectrometry,…), butreal-time PCR is generally efficient (rapid, specific, sensitive) and easy toperform. By comparison with culture, we assessed a multiplex PCR forthe detection of 11 mastitis causing bacteria, and a simplex PCR for thedetection of Mycoplasma agalactiae, the agent of Contagious Agalactia.In both cases, these direct PCR proved to be more sensitive and rapidthan conventional culture, and gave accurate quantitative results withoutamplification inhibition. When applied to routine diagnosis, the criticalpoint remains the quality and representativeness of the individual ortank milk samples.