Infection of Turkeys with Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale and Mycoplasma synoviae

Abstract

Within 1 mo, two separate outbreaks of respiratory disease occurred in two flocks on the multiage market turkey farm in Slovenia. More severe dinical signs and higher mortality were observed in male birds. Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale (ORT) was isolated in pure culture from tracheas of the affected birds in both outbreaks. Commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test showed the presence of antibodies to ORT in sera of birds from both clinically affected flocks and also in two flocks of younger birds without clinical sings. Immunoblotting with ORT culture isolated during the outbreak as an antigen confirmed the presence of antibodies to ORT in sera of turkeys of all four flocks examined. In addition, three different serologic assays also detected antibodies to Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) in three out of four flocks. The concomitant infection with MS did not show an obvious effect on mortality rates nor on the antibody response against ORT. Younger birds appeared to be less susceptible to ORT pathogenicity because in those flocks the infection was subclinical.

Demonstration ofOrnithobacterium rhinotrachealein pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) with pneumonia and airsacculitis

“…This is evidence of multicausal respiratory disease (Kleven & Glisson, 1997) and the synergism previously reported experimentally between ORT and other agents; for example, aMPV (Marien et al, 2005), Newcastle disease virus and infectious bronchitis virus (van Empel et al, 1996). Case reports of field outbreaks of ORT have also confirmed mixed infections affecting the severity of disease, including with E. coli in turkey breeders (De Rosa et al, 1996), M. synoviae in multi-age turkey flocks (Zorman-Rojs et al, 2000) and E. coli in broiler chickens (Sakai et al, 2000). Neither APMV-2 or M. synoviae appear to have been previously reported in cases of respiratory disease in pheasants, but these agents are likely to go clinically undetected in the absence of disease attributable to secondary infectious agents.…”

Comparative pathomorphological, bacteriological and serological examination of broiler breeders and pheasants experimentally infected withOrnithobacterium rhinotracheale

“…The first data relating to disease caused by Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale (ORT) originate from 1991 (van Beek et al, 1994), but the role of this bacterium in the pathology of avian diseases continues to be subject to investigation. Based on experimental investigations (van Empel et al, 1996(van Empel et al, , 1999Marien et al, 2005;Thachil et al, 2009) and field trials (Travers, 1996;De Rosa et al, 1997;Erbeck & McMurray, 1998;Hafez, 1998;Sakai et al, 2000;Sprenger et al, 2000;Zorman-Rojs et al, 2000;van Veen et al, 2000b;Gavrilović et al, 2012) the opinion that ORT is a secondary opportunistic pathogen prevails in the literature. However, Sprenger et al (1998) and van Veen et al (2000a) demonstrated, in experimentally infected turkeys and broilers, respectively, that ORT is a primary pathogen for them.…”

Pathological study on the upper respiratory tract infection of chickens and isolation, identification of causal bacteria

“…Concurrent infection of young poultry with Klebsiella pneumoniae increased the severity of respiratory disease . Weakness, gasping, pump-handled respiration, dyspnoea, mucous discharge and mortality, swelling of sinuses, facial oedema, tracheitis, exudative pneumonia, pleuritis, air sacculitis, pericarditis, sinusitis, drop in egg production and poor egg quality characterize the respiratory infection (Zorman et al, 2000;Canal et al, 2005 Confirmatory diagnosis of bacterial diseases of upper respiratory tract infection in poultry requires more data. The investigation was designed to (a) isolate and identify the bacteria from nasal sinuses and trachea and to (b) determine the pathological lesions caused by these bacteria.…”