ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF Ornithobacteriun rhinotracheale FROM LAYING HENS IN FARMS OF LA HABANA PROVINCE

respiratory infection is the most serious disease affecting poultry and causing great economic losses to the poultry industry worldwide. in avian host, several microorganisms of the genus pasteurella (p. multocida, p. gallinarum and p. anatipestifer), bordetella (b. avium) and avibacterium paragallinarum) were involved in respiratory diseases complex. ornithobacterium rhinotracheale is a recently discovered bacterium, of worldwide distribution in commercial poultry, in which it is associated to respiratory diseases and it is also found in wild birds. airsacculitis and pneumonia are the most common symptoms of infection with o. rhinotracheale. isolation and identification of pathogenic bacteria associated to respiratory diseases were carried out from a total of 80 samples of animals collected in four different periods from 4 farms in the western region in cuba. in total 16(20%), 15(18%), 9(11%) and 4(5%), isolates were identified as p. multocida, e.coli, m.haemolytic and o. rhinotracheale. the o. rhinotracheale strains were isolated from infraorbital sinus exudates of animal with clinical symptoms and these strains were identified by biochemical test and by amplification of a fragment of 16s rrna which was analysed by enzymatic restriction, the fragments with the expected size were obtained. this work is the first report of the presence of o.rhinotrachelae by culture and molecular method in layer hens in farms from the western region in cuba.