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Correspondence to Author: Carvalho Sales^1,2, Tönnemann Piati¹, Reatriz Perea¹,Gorrea Muz², islaine Fonro¹. 

¹Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis 88040-900, SC, Brazil.
²Zoetis Industry of Veterinary Products LTDA, São Paulo 04709-11, SP, Brazil.

Abstract:

Brazil is the world’s second-largest producer of broiler chicken, and monitoring avian diseases is crucial for both global nutrition and the economy. High rates of animal carcass losses from aerosacculitis are caused by avian metapneumovirus (aMPV) infection, and these effects can be exacerbated by co-infection with pathogenic bacteria, especially Escherichia coli (APEC). The current study assessed the clinical consequences of co-infection with APEC and the seroprevalence of the primary aMPV subtypes in unvaccinated broiler chickens from Brazilian poultry farms. A total of 1000 samples, including blood, respiratory swabs, femurs, liver, and spleen, were taken from 100 batches of poultry production. The history of respiratory and systemic clinical symptoms was taken into consideration when choosing the production batch. According to the findings, two lots tested positive for aMPV-B, and 20% of the lots had serological evidence of aMPV. Co-infection between aMPV and APEC was found in 45% of batches. The findings highlight the necessity of targeted vaccination campaigns, viral surveillance, and vaccination programs, all of which may lessen clinical issues and, in turn, the need for antibiotics to treat bacterial co-infections.

Keywords: clinical signs; slaughter convictions; virus–bacteria co-infection; colibacillosis.

Citation:

Dr.Carvalho Sales, Monitoring of Non-Vaccinated Chickens for Avian Metapneumovirus and Co-Infection with Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli. Advances in Vaccines 2025.