Seroprevalence of Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale infection in broiler and broiler breeder chickens in west Azerbaijan Province, Iran

Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale is a pleomorphic Gram-negative rod shaped bacterium of the rRNA superfamily V that is associated with respiratory disease in poultry. This study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of O. rhinotracheale infection in broiler and broiler breeder chickens in West Azerbaijan (Urmia lake region) by using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In this study, 463 serum samples were obtained from 50 broiler flocks and 472 blood sera from 42 broiler breeder flocks. Results showed that 41 broiler flocks (82%) and 39 broiler breeder flocks (92.8%) were positive. Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale antibodies were detected in 205 (44.2%) of the 463 broiler serum samples. Of the 472 blood sera examined from broiler breeder, 340 (72%) were positive. The results of this study indicated that the prevalence of O. rhinotracheale antibodies is high in the broiler and broiler breeder flocks in West Azerbaijan.