Overview
- Moraxella bovis causes infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis
- Found on mucous membranes of carrier cattle
- Susceptible to desiccation therefore short survival in environment
- Flies act as vectors, in which the bacteria can survive 72 hours
- Other species non-pathogenic
Characteristics
- Short, plump Gram negative rods or cocci occuring in pairs
- Non-motile
- Aerobic
- Catalase positive, oxidase postitive
- Unable to utilise sugars
- No growth on MacConkey agar
- Growth enhanced by addition of blood or serum to media
Pathogenesis and pathogenicity
- Virulent strains have fimbriae, are haemolytic and grow into agar
Clnical infections
- Infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis, or pink-eye/New Forest disease is an ocular disease of cattle
- Highly contagious infection of superficial tissues of eye
- Affects animals under 2 years old
- Decreased weight gain in beef cattle, decreased milk production