Investigation of bovine haemoplasmas and their association with anaemia in New Zealand cattle.

AbstractCASE HISTORY AND CLINICAL FINDINGS: A dairy cow, from a herd in the Waikato region of New Zealand, was reported with regenerative anaemia on 12 September 2014. Testing of blood from the animal using PCR assays for Theileria orientalis produced a negative result for both Chitose and Ikeda types.LABORATORY FINDINGS: Using PCR and DNA sequencing, blood from the cow was positive for Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobos. Further testing of another 12 animals from the case herd, 27 days after the affected cow was first reported, showed 11 animals were positive for Candidatus M. haemobos or Mycoplasma wenyonii in the PCR. None of these cattle were clinically anaemic or positive for T. orientalis Ikeda type using PCR.A convenience sample of 47 blood samples from cattle throughout New Zealand, submitted to the Investigation and Diagnostic Centre (Ministry for Primary Industries) for surveillance testing for T. orientalis Ikeda, was selected for further testing for bovine haemoplasmas. Of these samples, 6/47 (13%...