Molecular study on the prevalence of respiratory Mycoplasma species in small ruminants of Kuchlak, district Quetta and Khanozai, district Pishin, Balochistan.

Respiratory diseases of small ruminants are among the most important problems throughout the world as well as in Balochistan, Pakistan. Various Mycoplasma species lead to pneumonia and other respiratory diseases in sheep and goats and inflict heavy economic losses in Balochistan. The aim of present study was to highlight the prevalence of respiratory Mycoplasma species in nasal swab samples of sheep and goats through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and further validation through Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP). In total, 240 nasal swab samples of Rakhshani breed of sheep and 200 nasal swab samples of Khurasani breed of goats were collected in 2011 from randomly selected sheep from Khanozai district, Pishin and goats from Kuchlak, district Quetta respectively. The extracted DNA samples were analyzed using the PCR for Mycoplasma mycoides cluster group, Mycoplasma mycoides sub-cluster group, Mycoplasma capricolum subspecies capripneumoniae (Mccp), Mycoplasma capricolum subsp capricolum (Mcc) and Mycoplasma putrefaciens (Mp). The highest prevalence of 7.5% (n=18) was observed for Mycoplasma mycoides cluster members , followed by 6.25% (n=15) for Mycoplasma mycoides sub- cluster members, 5% (n=12) for Mp and 1.25% (n=3) for Mcc .Further none of the prevalence was seen for Mccp. The present PCR results for the Mycoplasma mycoides sub-cluster members were further validated by the RFLP, with the yield of three fragments (230, 178, and 153bps) specific for Mmc. Furthermore comparable results for various Mycoplasma species using PCR were also observed in goats. The PCR based prevalence of different mycoplasma species in sheep and goats in the study area is alarming and needs attention to contain the mycoplasmosis using efficacious mycoplasma vaccines.