Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale Infection in Turkey Breeders

Abstract

A sequence of outbreaks of respiratory disease separated by intervals of about 2 wk occurred on three turkey breeder ranches. The last two ranches affected belonged to different companies and were separated by a distance of 11 km. Mortality on the last ranch was particularly severe among certain segregated groups of turkeys that included toms, heavier birds, and birds undergoing a stressful event such as artificial insemination. On this ranch, percentages of mortality within an 18-day period were 5.2% in toms, 2.4% in hens, 7.4% in heavy toms and 5.4% in heavy hens. Turkeys from 27 to 42 wk of age were examined during the outbreaks. Gross lesions included severe lung consolidation with fibrinous exudate on the pleura and air sacs, petechiae on the epicardium, and increased cloudy fluid in the pericardial sac. Liver and spleen were moderately enlarged. Histologically, there was severe fibrinoheterophilic inflammation in the airways, pleura, and air sacs and severe perivascular interstitial edema in the lungs. Liver had acute coagulative necrosis of hepatocytes associated with occasional thrombosis at the periphery of the liver lobes. Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale was isolated from tissues of the respiratory system, such as infraorbital sinus, trachea, lung, and air sacs, but not from the liver, spleen, or bone marrow. Escherichia coli was isolated less often from lung, air sac, and trachea.

Synergy between avian pneumovirus andOrnithobacterium rhinotrachealein turkeys

“…The clinical signs resulting from the dual infection are similar to, but generally milder than, those seen in field cases (De Rosa et al ., 1996;Roepke et al ., 1998). This difference may be attributed to the often inadequate environmental and management conditions (high animal density, inadequate ventilation, high ammonia levels, too high and low a relative humidity) and additional pathogens encountered in the field, exacerbating any disease that has been brought about.…”

“…In all experiments that were successful in reproducing acute clinical signs in turkeys, intratracheal or intrasaccular infection was applied (Ryll et al ., 1996;Sprenger et al ., 1998) and in this way the innate defence mechanisms situated at the upper respiratory tract are possibly bypassed. Other possible factors may be host related, with the age and health status as plausible determinants, although the occurrence of the disease does not seem to be correlated to a narrow age group */not in field outbreaks, nor under experimental conditions (De Rosa et al ., 1996;Hafez, 1996;Ryll et al ., 1996;Travers, 1996;van Empel et al ., 1996;Hinz & Hafez, 1997;Sprenger et al, 1998;van Veen et al ., 2000a). Noteworthy is the observation that, in all successful experiments, conventional turkeys were used instead of SPF animals.…”

Evaluation of a Commercial System for the Identification of Ornithobacterium Rhinotracheale

“…This virus is considered a zoonotic agent, and therefore some risks are involved when working with the live virus. [3][4][5]10,12 In a diagnostic laboratory doing virus isolation work there is always some risk of cross-contaminating diagnostic samples with live laboratory virus. In addition, there are several dis-…”

The effect of vaccination of pullets againstOrnithobacterium rhinotrachealeinfection

“…The clinical symptoms associated with O. rhinotracheale infection have included lacrimation, nasal exudates, sinusitis, dyspnoea, coughing, oedema in facial subcutis, growth retardation and a drop in feed consumption (Charlton et al, 1993;DeRosa et al, 1996;Back et al 1998;Canal et al, 2005).…”

“…Postmortem lesions associated with O. rhinotracheale infection have been identified as fibrinopurulent pneumonia, air sacculitis, peritonitis with foamy exudates and arthritis DeRosa et al, 1996;Ryll et al, 1996;van Empel et al, 1996).…”