Laboratory Diagnostic of Avian Pathogenic Strains (apec)

Escherichia coli is probably the most famous bacteria in broiler production .... Along with Mycoplasma, it is responsible for many economical losses (meat produced of antibiotics spent to fight against). Colibacillosis is indeed the most frequently reported disease in surveys of poultry diseases or condemnations at processing. Yogaratnam in 1995, for instance, showed that 43% of broiler carcasses condemned for disease at processing had lesions consistent with colisepticemia. Moreover, E. coli infection can have a significance for public health. First, even though most of APEC isolated from poultry are pathogenic only for birds, chickens are susceptible to colonisation with E. coli O157:H7 (an important Shigatoxin-producing, enterohemorragic pathogen of human). And characteristics of virulent E. coli in birds and other “animals” are shared, so that some studies are already suggesting that avian strains can be a source of genes and plasmids that encode for antimicrobial resistance and virulence factors. The disease itself in chicken may occur as colisepticemia, which typically leads to death. Even though some birds can fully recover from colisepticemia, some others may recover with sequelae. Colibacillosis may also be a localized infection, manifesting as omphalitis, yolk sac infection, cellulites, swollen head syndrome, enteritis, acute vaginitis, salpingitis, or peritonitis.