Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

High Prevalence of Prototheca Bovis Infection in Dairy Cattle with Chronic Mastitis in Ecuador

María Paula Huilca
* ,
David Vasco-Julio
* ,
Yanua Ledesma
,
Salomé Guerrero-Freire
,
Jeannette Zurita
ORCID logo ,
Pablo Castillejo
ORCID logo ,
Francisco Barceló-Blasco
,
Lisseth Yanez
ORCID logo ,
Darwin Changoluisa
,
Gustavo Echeverría
,
Carlos Bastidas-Caldés
,
Jacobus H. de Waard
ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 19 September 2022 / Approved: 23 September 2022 / Online: 23 September 2022 (03:59:00 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Huilca-Ibarra, M.P.; Vasco-Julio, D.; Ledesma, Y.; Guerrero-Freire, S.; Zurita, J.; Castillejo, P.; Barceló Blasco, F.; Yanez, L.; Changoluisa, D.; Echeverría, G.; Bastidas-Caldes, C.; Waard, J.H. High Prevalence of Prototheca bovis Infection in Dairy Cattle with Chronic Mastitis in Ecuador. Vet. Sci. 2022, 9, 659. Huilca-Ibarra, M.P.; Vasco-Julio, D.; Ledesma, Y.; Guerrero-Freire, S.; Zurita, J.; Castillejo, P.; Barceló Blasco, F.; Yanez, L.; Changoluisa, D.; Echeverría, G.; Bastidas-Caldes, C.; Waard, J.H. High Prevalence of Prototheca bovis Infection in Dairy Cattle with Chronic Mastitis in Ecuador. Vet. Sci. 2022, 9, 659.

Abstract

The genus Prototheca, unicellular, non-photosynthetic, yeast-like microalgae, is a pathogen of concern for the dairy industry causing bovine mastitis that currently cannot be cured and hence generates significant economic losses in milk production. In this study, for the first time in Ecuador, we identify Prototheca bovis as the etiologic agent of chronic mastitis in dairy cattle. Milk samples (n=458) of cows with chronic mastitis were cultured on Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA). Microscopy and cytB gene sequencing were used to identify Prototheca, whereby Prototheca bovis was isolated from 15.1% (n=69) of the milk samples, one of the highest infection rates that can be found in the literature in a “non-outbreak” situation. No other Prototheca species were found. We were unable to isolate the alga from environmental samples. We showed that P. bovis was relatively resistant to disinfectants used to sterilize milking equipment on the cattle farms where it was isolated. We discuss how to avoid future infection and also hypothesize that the real prevalence of Prototheca infection in bovine mastitis is probably much higher than what was detected. We recommend a protocol to increase the diagnostic yield in the bacteriology laboratory.

Keywords

Prototheca bovis; bovine mastitis; microalga; cattle; Ecuador; prevalence

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Biology and Biotechnology

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Download PDF Download Supplementary

Comments (0)

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
Views 0
Downloads 0
Comments 0
Metrics 0
Get PDF Supplementary Files Cite Share 0
Bookmark BibSonomy Mendeley Reddit Delicious
×
Alerts
Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here.