Do we know the real impact of Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale infections?

摘要

This respiratory disease causes significant losses in the poultry industry, through both mortality and morbidity. It has been difficult to recognise, prevent and treat but new vaccines seem to offer hope for the future control of OR. Over the past decade, a new respiratory disease in broiler chickens has been observed. The disease is characterised by relatively mild respiratory symptoms, which started with sneezing at an age of about 28 days continuing through to the end of the fattening period, accompanied by increased mortality and poor performance, i.e. decreased daily growth and feed conversion. In 1991, a pleomorphic, gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium, which could not be classified into one of the known bacterial species, was isolated fromorgans of affected broilers in South Africa. Initially the bacterium was referred to as Pasteurellalike or Taxon 28 but later this bacterium was named Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale (OR). However, this proved not to be the first isolate of OR as isolates dating back to 1981 (Germany), 1983 (Belgium) and 1987 (Hungary) were found to be identical to the South African isolates.