Evaluation of polymerase chain reaction for detection of Mycoplasma meleagridis infection in turkeys

• Published in: Veterinary microbiology 1997-11, Vol.58 (2), p.187-193
• Main Authors: Moalic, Pierre-Yves, Gesbert, Fabienne, Laigret, Frédéric, Kempf, Isabelle
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Bacteria; Bacteriological methods and techniques used in bacteriology; Bacteriology; Biological and medical sciences; Diagnosis; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay - methods; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Life Sciences; Microbiology; Mycoplasma - classification; Mycoplasma - isolation & purification; Mycoplasma Infections - blood; Mycoplasma Infections - diagnosis; Mycoplasma Infections - veterinary; Mycoplasma meleagridis; PCR; Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; Poultry Diseases; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Trachea - microbiology; Turkey; Turkeys
• ISSN: 0378-1135; 1873-2542
• DOI: 10.1016/S0378-1135(97)00177-6

Different methods were compared for the detection of the turkey pathogen Mycoplasma meleagridis in a turkey field flock before and after antibiotic (oxytetracycline) treatment. They included culture, serology (detection of antibodies by ELISA) and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based assay developed by Boyle et al. [Boyle, J.S., Good, R., Morrow, C.J., 1995. Detection of the turkey pathogens Mycoplasma meleagridis and M. iowae by amplification of genes coding for rRNA. J. Clin. Microbiol. 33, 1335–1338]. Culture and PCR assay with tracheal swab samples were much more sensitive than ELISA with serum samples. Percentages of infected birds detected by culture or PCR for samples collected prior to antibiotic treatment were almost identical but the percentage of positive samples detected after antibiotic treatment was much higher with the PCR test.