One hundred thirty-eight swine abortions were studied in detail in an effort to identify an etiologic agent. A viral agent was implicated in 7 cases. Bacteria were isolated in less than half of the examined cases; however, in 61% of the cases, motile, filamentous organisms were observed in tissues and fluids. Although swine sera from farms experiencing reproductive problems had a high reactor rate to Leptospira bratislava antigen, electron microscopy of the observed organism revealed a wall-free prokaryote morphologically typical of the class Mollicutes.
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