Antibiotic susceptibility profiles of Mycoplasma sp. 1220 strains isolated from geese in Hungary

BACKGROUND: Mycoplasma sp. 1220 can induce inflammation primarily in the genital and respiratory tracts of waterfowl, leading to serious economic losses. Adequate housing and appropriate antibiotic treatment are promoted in the control of the disease. The aim of the present study was to determine the in vitro susceptibility to thirteen different antibiotics and an antibiotic combination of thirty-eight M. sp. 1220 strains isolated from geese and a duck in several parts of Hungary, Central Europe between 2011 and 2015. RESULTS: High MIC(50) values were observed in the cases of tilmicosin (>64 μg/ml), oxytetracycline (64 μg/ml), norfloxacin (>10 μg/ml) and difloxacin (10 μg/ml). The examined strains yielded the same MIC(50) values with spectinomycin, tylosin and florfenicol (8 μg/ml), while enrofloxacin (MIC(50) 5 μg/ml), doxycycline (MIC(50) 5 μg/ml), lincomycin (MIC(50) 4 μg/ml) and lincomycin-spectinomycin (1:2) combination (MIC(50) 4 μg/ml) inhibited the growth of the bacteria with lower concentrations. Tylvalosin (MIC(50) 0.5 μg/ml) and two pleuromutilins (tiamulin MIC(50) 0.625 μg/ml; valnemulin MIC(50) ≤ 0.039 μg/ml) were found to be the most effective drugs against M. sp. 1220. However, strains with elevated MIC values were detected for all applied antibiotics. CONCLUSIONS: Valnemulin, tiamulin and tylvalosin were found to be the most effective antibiotics in the study. Increasing resistance was observed in the cases of several antibiotics. The results highlight the importance of testing Mycoplasma species for antibiotic susceptibility before therapy.