Pasteurella multocida in scavenging family chickens and ducks: carrier status, age susceptibility and transmission between species

Abstract

Pasteurella multocida causes fowl cholera, a highly contagious and severe disease in chickens and water fowls. The disease is not well described in less intensive production systems, including scavenging family poultry production in developing countries. P. multocida was isolated from 25.9% of healthy-looking ducks and 6.2% of chickens from free-range family poultry farms and at slaughter slabs at market. On experimental infection with 1.2 to 2.0 x 10(8) organisms of the P. multocida type strain (NCTC 10322(T)), 12-week-old chickens expressed fowl cholera clinical signs significantly more times (372 signs) than those of 4-week-old, 8-week-old and 16-week-old chickens (173, 272 and 187 signs) and more signs were severe. In family ducks the 8-week-old birds expressed clinical signs significantly more times (188 signs) than those of the other age groups (117, 80, and 83 signs, respectively) and severe signs were more frequent. P. multocida transmitted from seeder birds (n=12) to sentinel birds (n=30), which developed clinical signs, and in some cases lesions of fowl cholera allowed bacterial re-isolation, whether infected ducks served as seeders for chickens or chickens served as seeder for ducks. This study has documented the occurrence of P. multocida among healthy-appearing family poultry in a tropical setting, and demonstrated that age susceptibility is highest in 12-week-old family chickens and 8-week-old family ducks when challenged with a low-virulent strain of P. multocida. It has further demonstrated that cross-transmission of fowl cholera may happen between family ducks and chickens, and vice versa.

Prevalence and antibiotic resistance of Pasteurella multocida isolated from chicken in Ado-Ekiti metropolis

“…The occurrence of fowl cholera in commercial poultry birds had been reported as the major concern in the poultry industry by other workers [13], [14], and [16]. In this study, 12.4% isolation rate of P. multocida doubles the level reported by Mbuthia et al [14] who recorded a rate of 6.2%.…”

“…In this study, 12.4% isolation rate of P. multocida doubles the level reported by Mbuthia et al [14] who recorded a rate of 6.2%. This difference may be due to the number of samples, method of isolation, presence of stress and age of birds sampled.…”

Isolation and Identification of Pasteurella multocida from Chicken for the Preparation of Oil Adjuvanted Vaccine

“…In the present investigation, the selected isolates were found to grow well in bovine blood agar media producing more or less characteristic colonies of P. multocida organism. Carter (1972), Heddleston and Rhoades, 1978, Kardos and Kiss, 2005and Mbuthia et al, 2008 used bovine blood agar for the culturing of P. multocida. All the isolated organisms in this study were Gram negative coccobacillary shape in Gram staining method and bipolar characteristics in leishman's staining method.…”

Time-course investigation of infection with a low virulentPasteurella multocidastrain in normal and immune-suppressed 12-week-old free-range chickens

“…However, in certain production systems, such as the common free-range scavenging poultry production systems in developing countries, the bacterium may be endemic present (Muhaiwa et al, 2001). Under such circumstances, outbreaks of acute fulminating disease are rare, and infected birds show more chronic clinical signs (Mbuthia et al, 2008).During fowl cholera infections, P. multocida is believed to enter primarily through the lungs (Christensen & Bisgaard, 2000), even though it has also been shown to invade the intestinal wall in an in vivo chicken loop model (Christensen et al, 2002). The bacterium probably adheres to the epithelial lining and subsequently associates with resident macrophages (Matsumoto et al, 1991), and, through a yet to be understood mechanism, it translocates to the bloodstream and from there to internal organs.…”

“…P. multocida type strain (NCTC 10322 T ) maintained on Dorset egg agar was used in the present study. It was spread onto blood agar with 5% citrated calf blood, incubated aerobically at 378C for 24 h, to check for purity prior to preparation of the inoculums as described previously (Mbuthia et al, 2008).Immunosuppression of chickens. Birds to be immune-suppressed were injected intramuscularly using dexamethasone (Agar Holland, Soest, The Netherlands) 4 mg/kg body weight per day for 6 days prior to experimental infection, following the protocol of Corrier et al (1991).…”