Pathogenicity of Mycoplasma lipofaciens (Strain ML64) for turkey embryos

Michael Lierz (1) , Stefanie Deppenmeier (2) , Achim D. Gruber (2) , Sebastian Brokat (3) , Hafez Mohamed Hafez (4)

1 Institute for Poultry Diseases
2 Department of Veterinary Pathology
3 Center for Cardiovascular Research
4 Freie Universität Berlin

Mycoplasma lipofaciens (strain ML64), isolated from an egg of a northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), was found to be pathogenic for chicken embryos causing mortality during first two weeks of incubation. The same strain was inoculated in turkey embryos to evaluate its pathogenicity and its ability to be laterally transmitted in the hatchery. The strain was found to be pathogenic to turkey embryos causing a high mortality (88.9%) during late incubation as well as haemorrhages of the legs, dwarfing, curled toes and a severe, multifocal, purulent to necrotizing broncho-pneumonia. In addition, lateral transmission between turkey poults hatched from infected eggs and poults from non-infected controls, was observed in the incubator.

Mots clés: Life Sciences

Michael Lierz, Stefanie Deppenmeier, Achim D. Gruber, Sebastian Brokat, Hafez Mohamed Hafez. Pathogenicity of Mycoplasma lipofaciens (Strain ML64) for turkey embryos. Avian Pathology, 2008, 36 (05), pp.389-393. ⟨10.1080/03079450701589126⟩. ⟨hal-00540091⟩