Patterns of Mycoplasma bovis antibodies in cows and calves in Swedish dairy herds, and testing strategies to detect seropositive herds

Abstract

Mycoplasma bovis causes severe diseases among cattle. Sweden has a favorable situation for control of this disease, with a low prevalence of M. bovis infected and seropositive herds detected only in the southern parts of the country. To prevent the spread of the infection, analyzing antibody levels is a cost-effective method to determine herd pathogen exposure status. In this study, our aims were to monitor the antibody dynamics in infected herds over time using IDvet ELISA, to both evaluate risk-based sampling and investigate the effect of M. bovis exposure on health and production. We visited and sampled 35 dairy herds, 31 of which were sampled at least 2 times and 26 sampled 4 times and followed for 2 yr. The patterns of herd seroprevalence varied depending on the status before the herd's entry into the study and remained relatively stable at the herd level, although antibody status could differ among age groups. Overall, herds with high exposure prevalence (75%–100% positive cows, n = 13/26), and herds with low exposure prevalence (

Published in

Journal of Dairy Science
2025, volume: 108, number: 10, pages: 11303-11316

SLU Authors

• Alvåsen, Karin

  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Hurri, Emma

  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • National Veterinary Institute (SVA)

UKÄ Subject classification

Animal and Dairy Science
Clinical Science

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2025-26761

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/144008