Presence of swine hemoplasmosis in pig farms from Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, by means of a new nested PCR assay

PINTOS ME; POSIK D. M.; BONZO E; PERFUMO CJ; ARAUZ MS

Revista Veterinaria

Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias de la Universidad Nacional del Nordeste (UNNE)

Año: 2021 vol. 32

Swine hemoplasmosis or swineinfectious anemia is a worldwide distribution disease caused by the hemotropicmycoplasmas Mycoplasma suis and Mycoplasma parvum. The aim of thisstudy was to determine the presence of M.suis-M. parvum infection in subclinical pigs from herds of Buenos Aires province,Argentina, by means of new nested PCR. The PCR assay primers were designedbased on the 16S ribosomal gene sequences of swine hemoplasmas available atGenBank. To standardize the assay, pig blood samples positive for hemoplasma byMay Grünwald-Giemsa (MGG) stained blood smears were used. A total of 482 pig blood sampleswere analyzed. A 32% (154/482) of MGG stained blood smears were positiveto M. suis o M.parvum.  From these154 samples, 47% (72/154) were positive by PCR. Sequences of PCR products amplifiedwith these primers always showed identity with M. suis or M. parvum,validating their specificity and highlighting the unspecific amplification withhemoplasmas of other species. This is the first assay designed in Argentina toidentify M. suis and M. parvum. However, considering theadvances in the knowledge of the genome of hemoplasmas worldwide, furtherstudies should be performed to standardize new assays for the diagnosis ofswine hemoplasmosis in Argentina.