Seroprevalence of Mycoplasma gallisepticum in domestic chickens, East Shewa, Ethiopia

Cross sectional study was conducted to estimate the sero-prevalence of Mycoplasma gallisepticumin domestic chickens and to assess risk factors associated with the disease in commercial and local chickens in East Shewa, Ethiopia. A total of 514 sera were collected (from187 commercial chickens and 327 local chickens) and tested using an indirect enzyme linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) to detect antibodies against M. gallisepticum. The overall seroprevalence of M. gallisepticum was 49.4% (254/514). A statistically significant association (p<0.05) was observed in prevalence between chicken type with prevalence of 64.5% in local and 23% in commercial chickens. Variation in prevalence was observed among the three commercial farms, the highest being in farm-B (46.8%) and the lowest in farm-C (4.25%). Prevalence in local chickens was significantly highest in Lume (72.7%) and lowest in Ada’a (47.5%) (p<0.05). Age was significantly associated with sero-prevalence (p<0.05). Prevalence was 67.3% in layers of (18 to 76 weeks) and 0% in layer chicks of (1 to 8 weeks old). Prevalence was also significantly different between layers (41.7%) and broilers (7.8%) (p<0.05). In commercial chickens, prevalence was significantly higher in females (32.4%) than males (10.1%) (p<0.05). The current study revealed M. gallisepticum is prevalent in chicken in East Shewa, Ethiopia.