The characterisation of Bordetella/Alcaligenes-like organisms and their effects on turkey poults and chicks.
Eight isolates of the Bordetella or Alcaligenes-like organisms associated with turkey rhino-tracheitis were examined. Five of these isolates had been recovered from the United Kingdom and three were foreign isolates. Four of the UK isolates came from flocks with mild respiratory disease. The fifth isolate came from birds with no respiratory signs and this appears to be the first report of the recovery of Bordetella/Alcaligenes from apparently normal turkeys. The field isolates and type strains Alcaligenes faecalis NCTC 415 and Bordetella bronchiseptica NCTC 452 were characterised by biochemical tests, but these did not include any electrophoresis or nucleic acid studies. Cluster analysis using the group average method and the similarly coefficient of Sokal and Sneath indicated that all the strains were distinct from Alcaligenes faecalis but were quite closely related to Bordetella bronchiseptica. Each field isolate was used to infect separate groups of day-old turkey poults and chicks, and each group contained birds which were experimentally infected and others which were in-contact. Observations were made over a 32-day period. In turkey poults, some of the isolates induced severe respiratory disease and mortality, and others very little or none. The UK isolates were less pathogenic than the foreign isolates. It was not possible to correlate the pathogenicity of the isolates for turkey poults with their biochemical characteristics. Chicks infected with two of the eight isolates showed slight respiratory signs, but there was no significant mortality.
Varley
J
J
Department of Veterinary Pathology, University of Liverpool, Neston, South Wirral, Cheshire, England.