Mycoplasmas are the smallest self-replicating bacteria and are pleomorphic, have a low GC content and are devoid of a cell wall [1]. Out of over 200 recognized mycoplasma species, 13 have been identified in cattle, with Mycoplasma bovis and Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides being the most pathogenic and responsible for significant economic losses [2].

M. bovis is the etiological agent of many disorders in cattle with different clinical manifestations, such as pneumonia, mastitis, arthritis, otitis, keratoconjunctivitis, endocarditis and brain disorders [3]. M. bovis has the ability to form an adherent biofilm, which facilitates its survival in the host and aids the chronic course of the disease [1,4,5]. It is known that M. bovis is able to evade the host immune system most of all due to high antigenic variability of the strains, its intracellular persistence in both phagocytic and non-phagocytic cells and the immune response modulation by the bacteria [6,7,8,9]. Due to the increasing resistance of European field strains to most antimicrobials with the exception, so far, of the fluoroquinolones, and overall difficulties in M. bovis therapy, the only principal strategy for control of these infections is the use of effective vaccines [10,11]. Many studies have been done using experimental vaccines but, to date, commercially available vaccines are available only in the United States, and their efficacy is not fully satisfactory [12].

Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP), one the great historic plagues of cattle alongside the now eradicated rinderpest, continues to inflict serious losses on livestock in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa [13]. But why is CBPP continuing to cause problems when it has been eradicated from Europe, Australia, Asia and North America? Sadly, because of economic hardships, civil wars and droughts affecting the countries where the disease is endemic and the inability to prevent transboundary movement of livestock, control in Africa seems further away than ever. CBPP is a severe pneumonia of cattle caused by the wall-less bacterium Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides. The disease is localized in the lungs, where it causes a highly characteristic “marbling” of the lungs in the acute stages and lesions known as a “sequestra” in the chronic form of the disease [14]. Clinical signs include rapid breathing, fever, nasal discharge, anorexia, cough on exertion and sudden death. Mortality rates can exceed 50% when the disease appears for the first time in herds. The mycoplasma is transmitted by close and repeated contact with aerial and environmental infection playing little or no role in its epidemiology. Consequently, it was recognized very early on that the slaughter of affected and contact animals with strict movement restrictions could effectively control the disease [15]. The difficulty, however, is identifying affected animals quickly enough to prevent the disease spreading because, though the lung may be very severely damaged, clinical signs are often lacking [16]; this was particularly true in outbreaks in European herds where cattle remain housed throughout the year. The disease is more obvious in the nomadic herds of sub-Saharan Africa where animals endure a much more hostile environment, leading to higher morbidity and mortality rates than in European cattle.