ABSTRACTflocks, including both vaccinated chickens and those with no vaccination information, were tested for NDV using a diagnostic ELISA kit. The seropositivity was 39.1%, and the isolation percentage by flock varied from 1.0 to 7.6%, and by region from 6.5 to 58.4%. Higher isolation rates (74.3-83.3%) were obtained after three passages in embryonated chicken eggs. All isolates preliminarily identified as NDV were characterized as nonpathogenic strains, as their Intracerebral Pathogenicity Index (ICPI) was below 0.7. Based on results of this study, Brazil can claim a virulent NDV-free status for commercial flocks.

S. Pullorum (SP) and S. Gallinarum (SG) are very similar. They are the agents of pullorum disease and fowl typhoid, respectively, and the two diseases are responsible for economic losses in poultry production. Although SP and SG are difficult to be differentiated in routine laboratory procedures, the ability to metabolize ornithine is a biochemical test that may be used to achieve this aim. While SP is able to decarboxylate this amino acid, SG is not. However, the isolation of strains showing atypical biochemical behavior has made this differentiation difficult. One of the genes associated with the metabolization of the amino acid ornithine is called speC, and is found in both serovars. The analysis of 21 SP and 15 SG strains by means of PCR did not enable the differentiation of the two serovars, because fragments produced were identical. However, after enzymatic treatment with restriction enzyme Eco RI, the band pattern of each serovar showed to be different, even in samples of atypical biochemical behavior. This fact enabled the standardization of the technique for a quick and safe differentiation of serovars Pullorum and Gallinarum.

The occurrence of Salmonella in a samples of 40 imported day-old duckling flocks was assessed from 1998 to 2003 according to the guidelines of the Brazilian National Poultry Health Program (Programa Nacional de Sanidade Avícola-PNSA). The pathogen was recovered from 26 flocks (65.0%). The most common serovars were S. Saintpaul and S. Kottbus. Up to four serovars were isolated from a single flock. Transportation box swabs (82.6%) and yolk sac pool (47.1%) showed the highest and the lowest frequency of Salmonella isolation, respectively. The high percentage of Salmonella isolation from imported day-old ducklings causes concern because of the zoonotic potential of this agent and its economical importance to commercial poultry breeding

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These results showed that Brazil preserves the virulent NDV-free status for commercial flocks.

Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Gallinarum biovar Pullorum is a bird-restricted pathogen which causes pullorum disease. The strain FCAV198 was isolated from a pool of chicken ovaries in Brazil, and its genome may be helpful for studies involving molecular mechanisms related to pathogenesis and other related applications.

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RESUMO Este trabalho foi desenvolvido para avaliar comparativamente o isolamento de Salmonella sorotipos Enteritidis (SE) e Typhimurium (STM) a partir do enriquecimento direto (ED) ou processamento com pré-enriquecimento (PE) de amostras de fezes de aves adultas, armazenadas em água peptonada tamponada a 1% (APT) por 24 ou 96h a 4º C. Utilizou-se os caldos de enriquecimento Rapapport-Vassiliadis novobiocina (RVN), tetrationato-novobiocina (TN) e selenitonovobiocina (SN) e os meios para plaqueamento ágar verde brilhante (VB), ágar de MacConkey (MC), ágar de Hektoen (HE), ágar Salmonella-Shigella (SS), ágar xilose lisina desoxicolato (XLD) e ágar xilose lisina tergitol 4 (XLT4). O procedimento bacteriológico incluiu as etapas de pré-enriquecimento, enriquecimento em caldo seletivo, plaqueamento, testes bioquímicos presuntivos e confirmação sorológica com utilização de soros polivalentes anti-antígenos somáticos e anti-antígenos flagelares de Salmonella. Não houve diferença estatisticamente significativa (p > 0,05) para as amostras armazenadas por 24h submetidas tanto ao PE quanto ao ED. Entretanto, em armazenagem por 96h o número de isolamentos nas amostras submetidas ao PE foi estatisticamente superior às submetidas ao ED (p < 0,05). Quanto aos caldos enriquecedores, não houve diferença estatística de número de isolamentos (p > 0,05) entre os caldos SN e TN, mas o caldo RVN mostrou-se estatisticamente superior aos demais (p < 0,05). Para os meios de plaqueamento, o XLD destacou-se por promover maior número de recuperações, embora sem significado estatístico (p > 0,05) para as amostras estocadas por 24h. Entre os dois sorotipos de Salmonella (SE e STM) não houve diferença estatística no número de recuperações (p > 0,05).