Ethiological structure and epidemiological monitoring of bacterial infections in industrially reared birds in Bulgaria

The study was performed on the 9 largest poultry farms and hatcheries in Bulgaria during the period from 2001 to 2006. Eight hundred thirty three samples from birds have been investigated seven hundred ten from gallinaceous and one hundred twenty three from waterfowl. The samples have been taken from corpse material (liver, spleen, joint, air sack, small intestine) as well from dead embryo, cloacal and nasal swabs. They were analyzed using routine laboratory or the semi-automatic system of identification CRYSTAL for enterobacteriae and staphylococci, as well as using the API-20 NE system for nonfermentative bacteria. A positive microbial finding was current in 67.8% of samples from dead chick embryos. The isolates belong to 13 different microbial species. A total of 14 species were isolated from the corpse material, nasal and cloacal swabs. Their specific presence is age dependent. Similar results have been found for waterfowl.