Isolation and characterization of mycoflora of chicken hatcheries in Mazandaran province, north of Iran

Fungal infections cause significant economic losses in the poultry industry either due to their direct infectious nature or due to mycotoxins production. Hatchery contamination with fungi can threaten chicken health. In this regard, geographical and seasonal distributions of airborne fungal contamination of 25 hatcheries in Mazandaran province, northern Iran, were investigated using an open plate method. The results of this study showed that hatcheries have various fungal contaminations, among which the most common were respectively Cladosporium (31.07%), Penicillium (24.00%), Aspergillus (20.63%), sterile hyphae (14.70%) and Alternaria (6.20%) from different regions. The results revealed that the highest level of fungal isolation was in spring and autumn. This study also showed that the concentration of fungal air spora in forest and seaside locations was significantly greater than mountainous ones. In spite of the regular disinfection in commercial hatcheries, fungal contamination was found in different parts.