Application of an indirect MilA ELISA for the detection of Mycoplasma bovis antibodies in bovine milk

The objective of this study was to detect Mycoplasma bovis specific antibodies using a recently reported MilA ELISA with the aim to detect M. bovis antibodies in milk. An indirect ELISA, based on a recombinant fragment of the Mycoplasma immunogenic lipase A (MilA) protein, was conducted on 291 milk samples for the detection of M. bovis antibodies. Samples were also tested with conventional Mycoplasma culture and M. bovis PCR. Samples were collected from individual cows from 2 commercial dairy herds in South Australia. Of 291 samples tested, 68 (23.4%) were detected positive for M. bovis antibodies, 150 (51.5%) were positive for M. bovis in PCR and 166 (57.0%) in bacterial culture. These results indicate that MilA indirect ELISA can be utilized for the detection of M. bovis antibodies in milk.