Since 2008/2009, the population of free-ranging ring-necked pheasants was recorded to decrease all over Germany. Various Mycoplasma (M.) spp. are causing severe respiratory signs in captive game bird species. Furthermore, M. gallisepticum is responsible for massive die-offs in consequence to severe conjunctivitis in house finches in the USA. Therefore, the prevalence of mycoplasmas in free-ranging pheasants was investigated and a potential impact on the population decline of pheasants discussed. Within this study, 150 free-ranging pheasants were sampled via tracheal swabs and tissue samples of the trachea and the periorbital skin, as the latter displayed inflammatory alterations in previous studies. In total, 177 samples were investigated for the presence of mycoplasmas using cultural and molecular biological methods. In 76 birds, necropsy was performed additionally. In total, 73.7% (51/76) of the examined pheasants had periorbital skin alterations. Furthermore, 64.4% (114/177) of the samples tested positive for mycoplasmas via PCR. Overall, 102/177 samples (57.6%, 78/105 tracheal swabs, 19/51 skin tissue, 5/21 trachea tissue) tested positive for mycoplasmas via culture. Mycoplasma gallinaceum (n = 50), M. pullorum (n = 45), M. glycophilum (n = 43), M. iners (n = 11), and M. gallinarum (n = 5) were frequently isolated. In 45 cases (45.9%), multiple Mycoplasma spp. were isolated from one sample. All examined samples tested negative for M. gallisepticum. Of 51 skin samples investigated for mycoplasmas, 24 (47.1%) showed inflammatory skin alterations in histology, and 58.3% (14/24) of these samples tested positive for Mycoplasma spp. additionally. Overall, there was a significant correlation between inflammatory altered skin samples and the detection of mycoplasmas in periorbital skin samples. Based on the present results, the isolated Mycoplasma spp. may play a role as facultative agents for the observed inflammatory skin alterations. However, additional investigation is needed to confirm this presumption.

自 2008/2009 年以来，全德国的自由放养环颈雉的数量有所减少。各种支原体( M. ) spp。导致圈养鸟类出现严重的呼吸道症状。此外，鸡毒支原体是美国家雀因严重结膜炎而大量死亡的原因。因此，调查了散养野鸡中支原体的流行情况，并讨论了对野鸡种群下降的潜在影响。在这项研究中，通过气管拭子以及气管和眶周皮肤的组织样本对 150 只自由放养的野鸡进行了采样，因为后者在之前的研究中显示出炎症改变。总共使用培养和分子生物学方法调查了 177 个样本中支原体的存在。在 76 只鸟中，另外进行了尸体剖检。总共有 73.7% (51/76) 的被检查的野鸡有眶周皮肤改变。此外，64.4% (114/177) 的样本通过 PCR 检测出支原体阳性。总体而言，102/177 个样本（57.6%，支原体gallinaceum（Ñ  = 50），M.鸡白痢（Ñ  = 45），M. glycophilum（Ñ  = 43），M. iners（Ñ  = 11），和M.鹑鸡（Ñ  = 5）经常分离。在 45 例 (45.9%) 中，多种支原体。从一个样品中分离出来。所有检查的样品均检测出鸡毒支原体呈阴性。在调查了支原体的 51 个皮肤样本中，24 个 (47.1%) 在组织学上显示出炎症性皮肤改变，并且这些样本中有 58.3% (14/24) 的支原体检测呈阳性属 此外。总体而言，炎症改变的皮肤样本与眶周皮肤样本中支原体的检测之间存在显着相关性。根据目前的结果，分离出的支原体。可作为观察到的炎症性皮肤改变的兼性试剂。但是，需要进行额外的调查来证实这一假设。