The occurrence of mycoplasmas in the lungs of pigs in New Zealand

Attempts were made to recover and serologically identify mycoplasmas from the lungs of 50 pigs with mycoplasmal pneumonia and from 50 lungs without gross evidence of pneumonia. Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and M. hyorhinis were respectively cultured from 30% and 50% of pneumonic lungs and the former species was also recovered from 12% of non-pneumonic lungs. Three other isolates (one from pneumonic and two from non-pneumonic lungs) differed in colonial morphology from M. hyopneumoniae and M. hyorhinis. The viability of these isolates could not be maintained on subculture and they were not identified serologically. The indirect immunofluorescence test was found to be highly specific for the identification and differentiation of M. hyopneumoniae and M. hyorhinis.