title: A quantitative measurement of the effect of avian influenza virus on the ability of turkeys to eliminate Pasteurella multocida from the respiratory tract.
abstract: The effect of avian influenza virus (AIV) infection on the ability of turkeys to eliminate Pasteurella multocida from the respiratory tract was evaluated. Four-week-old turkeys were experimentally infected with an apathogenic AIV subtype (H5N2) by the oculonasal route and subsequently superinfected with P multocida (Urbach strain) by the intranasal route three days after infection with AIV. Quantitative clearance of P multocida from the trachea and lung was determined using a pour plate technique on samples collected at intervals after infection. Samples from turkeys which had been infected with AIV were found to yield more P multocida than those from turkeys which had not been infected with AIV. The numbers of P multocida increased in infected birds to a greater extent than in birds which had not been infected with the virus. The present study suggests that AIV infection may contribute to the increased numbers and a decreased clearance of P multocida in turkeys.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St Paul 55108.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sivanandan
authors.forename: K V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Nagaraja
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Halvorson
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Newman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000502:physiology*; D005585:Influenza in Birds / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology*; D010326:Pasteurella Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016979:Pasteurella multocida / Q000502:physiology*; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D012137:Respiratory System / Q000382:microbiology; D014422:Turkeys