Investigating Survival and Persistence of Mycoplasma Agalactiae (MA) in the Farm Environment

The subcontractor will: 1. Assist development of an on-farm sampling strategy, real-time quantitative PCR and protocols relevant to both Sicilian and UK small ruminant farming practices. 2. Arrange, visit and perform longitudinal sampling in a model farm environment by placing M. agalactiae-positive animals in a controlled farm setting to define realistic sampling structure to identify likely key sources of viable MA in the natural sheep farm environment. 3. Arrange, visit and perform longitudinal sampling, for ext...