This study aimed to report three cases of contagious agalactia (CA) by Mycoplasma agalactiae in goat kids born with polyarthritis. The nanny goats belonging to two different herds presented clinical signs of CA during pregnancy and in parturition they were apparently healthy. The carpal articulations of the three goat kids, the tarsus articulation in one, and thigh-femoral articulation in another showed swelling, pain and impairment of the flexion-extension movements. The articular liquid was collected from two goat kids at birth and revealed a content which varied from transparent to fibrinopurulent, presenting a yellow coloring. The samples were plated on modified Hayflick. The colonies had the appearance of "fried egg" and were confirmed as being M. agalactiae by biochemical tests and 16S rRNA PCR. Blood was collected from three animals soon after birth and submitted to the indirect ELISA test for the determination of the titration of the anti- M. agalactiae antibodies. The results confirmed that the goat kids were infected during pregnancy by M. agalactiae and resulted in the birth of an offspring with clinical signs of CA being immune tolerant.
caprine; contagious agalactia; polyarthritis