Differentiation of Mycoplasma agalactiae from other mycoplasmas of sheep and goats

Mycoplasma agalactiae strains consistently produced slight acidity in glucose broth and characteristic lytic patterns on solid media containing sheep, horse and chicken blood, enabling them to be differentiated from other mycoplasmas of sheep and goats in Turkey. With these and additional observations on cultural, morphological and serological characteristics, 67 of 128 Mycoplasma strains were shown to be M. agalactiae. A further 58 strains, some isolated from the nose and eyes of healthy sheep and goats and others from animals affected with contagious agalactiae, were sufficiently homogeneous to be classed as another group, type N. The remaining strains for a third group, type C.