ABSTRACT
The relative virulence for chickens of five strains of Pasteurella multocida was evaluated. Twenty groups, each of ten chickens, were inoculated with a standard dose of 10(5) of each of five strains by the intramuscular (I.m.), intravenous (I.v.), intratracheal (I.tr.) or conjunctival (Co) routes. The highest mortality occurred in the groups dosed I.m. and I.v., followed by I.tr. inoculation. The relative virulence of each strain did not change when inoculated by the different routes. The most virulent strain, VP161, caused 100% mortality by all except the Co route. The least virulent strain, VP17, caused a single mortality by the I.v. route, but gave a high level of protection to birds inoculated by both the I.m. and I.v. routes, when challenged by intramuscular injection with (VP161). There was no protection against I.m. challenge in the birds inoculated by the I.tr. or Co routes. Serum antibody levels measured by ELISA correlated with the level of protection against virulent challenge for groups inoculated I.m. or I.v., but not I.tr. Western blots of pooled sera from each group did not show any specific antigen recognition that might explain the observed differences in protection. Inoculation with strain VP17, (both I.m. and I.tr.) also gave a high level of protection to birds challenged with strain VP161 by intratracheal instillation.
Subject(s)
Pasteurella Infections/veterinary , Pasteurella multocida/pathogenicity , Poultry Diseases/microbiology , Animals , Blotting, Western/veterinary , Chickens , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/veterinary , Female , Pasteurella multocida/classificationABSTRACT
Forty-five recently isolated strains of Newcastle disease virus and the V4 vaccine strain of Newcastle disease virus were used to infect experimental chickens. Neither V4 nor any of the new strains produced detectable clinical disease. All the viruses produced an antibody response and spread by contact. Some of the newly isolated viruses produced a more rapid serological response than V4 virus did. Dual or multiple infections with one of the new strains of Newcastle disease virus, infectious bronchitis virus and Escherichia coli did not enhance the pathogenicity of any of the agents.
