Observations on Alcaligenes faecalis Infection in Turkeys

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Abstract
Experiments were initiated to study the pathogenicity of 5 A. faecalis isolates in specific-pathogen-free poults. The isolates were recovered from commercial flocks suffering from a respiratory disease. There were no differences between cultural or biochemical characteristics of the isolates but differences in antibiotic sensitivity were detected. All 5 isolates were capable of initiating a respiratory disease in poults similar to that seen in the early stages of turkey coryza. The infection, clinical signs and lesions were limited to the upper part of the respiratory tract but there were substantial differences in the severity of disease initiated by different isolates. There were differences in the persistence of infection in the host. Secondary infections in the tracheas and sinuses were higher in poults infected with A. faecalis. The disease observed in the experimentally infected birds was milder than in 4 naturally infected flocks that had complicating Escherichia coli infections. There was no evidence of infection with infectious bursal disease virus in 4 naturally-occurring outbreaks in Ohio, USA. The term turkey coryza should be used to describe the disease initiated by A. faecalis.

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