Report on isolation and identification of Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale from broiler flocks in İzmir, Turkey Bericht über Isolierung und Identifizierung von Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale aus Masthähnchenherden in İzmir, Türkei

Respiratory disease conditions continue to cause heavy economic losses in the poultry industry. They are usually caused by viral, bacterial, mycotic or parasitic agents and the course of the diseases can be influenced by environmental conditions and management failure (JOUBERT et al., 1999). At the beginning of 90`s bacteriological examinations from turkeys and chickens suffering from respiratory distress resulted in isolation of slowly growing, pleomorphic, gram-negative rods. Initially, the bacterium was designated as Pasteurella-like, Kingella -like, Taxon 28 or pleomorphic gram-negative rod before the name Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale gen. nov. sp. nov. in the rRNA-superfamily V was suggested (VANDAMME et al., 1994). The infection occurs worldwide and is incriminated as a possible additional cause in respiratory disease complexes. O. rhinotracheale has been isolated from chickens, chukar partridges, ducks, geese, guinea fowl, gulls, ostriches, partridges, pheasants, pigeons, quail, rooks and turkeys (VAN EMPEL and HAFEZ, 1999). O. rhinotracheale infections have been reported from various European countries (VAN EMPEL and HAFEZ, 1999) as well as from Israel (BOCK et al., 1995), United States (CHARLTON et al., 1993) and Turkey (ERGANIŞ et al., 1999, TURAN and AK, 2002, TURAN and AKCADAG, 2003, TÜRKYİLMAZ, 2001). Eighteen distinct serotypes have been identified of which serotype A is most prevalent in chickens (Van Empel and Hafez 1999). The disease spreads horizontally by direct and indirect contact. Vertical transmission is suspected, since O. rhinotracheale has been isolated at very low incidence from reproductive organs, hatching eggs, infertile eggs and dead embryos (VAN EMPEL, 1998). There is no known public health significance (ARCHAMBAULT et al., 1999). Diagnosis of O. rhinotracheale on the basis of clinical features and pathological lesions is often difficult since it can be confused with other infectious conditions. Proof of infection therefore must be carried out by isolation and identification of the causative agent (HAFEZ, 1998, 2002). This paper reports on the isolation and identification of O. rhinotracheale from commercial broiler flocks in İzmir, Turkey. Materials and Methods