Mycoplasma infection of ducks and geese

Production of ducks and geese in certain parts of the world is very important. Mycoplasma dis- eases cause significant losses to the duck and goose industry. This review summarizes the epidemiologi- cal, clinical, and pathomorphological characteristics of mycoplasma diseases of ducks and geese and the in- volvement of the various mycoplasma species in their pathogenesis. The role of mycoplasma infections in the development of clinical signs, pathological lesions, and mortality of challenged birds is demonstrated in chal- lenge experiments. Transmission of mycoplasma in the ovary and eggs resulting in the reduction of egg pro- duction and an increase of embryo mortality has been shown in challenge experiments as well as in field stud- ies. The susceptibility of many mycoplasma isolates of the most important mycoplasma species of duck and goose origin were tested and showed relatively high av- erage minimum inhibitory concentrations of lincomy- cin, tilosin, oxytetracycline, chlortetracycline, and enro- floxacin but not for tiamulin. The successful treatment of mycoplasma infections with antibiotics in ducks and geese should be selected based on the minimum inhibi- tory concentration values against the mycoplasmas iso- lated from the flock.