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The consequences of experimental infection with Trypanosoma congolense and later superinfection with T brucei were compared among four breeds of goats: Toggenburg, Nubian, Alpine and Saanen. No major differences were found with regard to packed cell volume, bodyweight or parasitaemia. When these four breeds were considered for introduction into areas having African trypanosomiasis, none appeared to have a comparative advantage with regard to innate resistance to trypanosomes.

A polysaccharide was extracted by warm aqueous phenol from the F-38 strain of mycoplasma which causes contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP). After acid hydrolysis, the polysaccharide was found to be composed of the neutral sugars glucose, galactose, mannose and fucose and the amino sugars galactosamine and glucosamine. All the sugars were present in approximately equal quantities. Unmodified goat erythrocytes bound the polysaccharide readily and the sensitised cells reacted with antibodies in sera from goats with experimental or natural CCPP. The unique composition of the F-38 polysaccharide and the specific reactivity of polysaccharide-sensitised red cells with antibodies from CCPP infected animals suggests that the polysaccharide should be useful for identification of F-38 organisms and diagnosis of the disease.