Isolation of a novel thermophilic Campylobacter from cases of spotty liver disease in laying hens and experimental reproduction of infection and microscopic pathology.

The condition known as spotty liver disease or spotty liver syndrome can cause significant mortality in free range laying hen flocks. It has been described in Europe and Australia but the aetiology has not been established. There are similarities between spotty liver disease and avian vibrionic hepatitis, a condition which was reported in the 1950s. A Vibrio-like organism was suspected to be the cause of avian vibrionic hepatitis, although this organism was never fully characterised. We report the isolation of a novel Campylobacter from five separate outbreaks of spotty liver disease. The conditions required for culture, the growth characteristics, electron microscopical morphology and results of the phenotypic tests used in the identification of this novel Campylobacter sp. are described. The novel Campylobacter is slow growing and fastidious and does not grow on media routinely used for isolating Campylobacter sp. The morphology is typical for a Campylobacter sp. and phenotypic tests and a duplex real time PCR test differentiate the novel Campylobacter from other members of the genus. 16S rRNA analysis of 19 isolates showed an identical sequence which appears to represent a hitherto unknown sub lineage within the genus Campylobacter. Experimental intraperitoneal infection of four week old SPF chickens produced microscopic liver pathology indistinguishable from natural disease and the novel Campylobacter was recovered from the experimentally infected chicks. The isolates described appear to be a possible causal organism for spotty liver disease.

Significant rising antibody titres to influenza A are associated with an acute reduction in milk yield in cattle.

Sporadic cases of an acute fall in milk production, "milk drop", were investigated in a Holstein Friesian dairy herd in Devon. The investigation was a case control study with two controls per case. Paired blood samples demonstrated that rising antibody titres to human influenza A/England/333/80 (H1N1) and human influenza A/Eng/427/88 (H3N2) were associated with an acute fall in milk production. Rising titres to bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV), bovine virus diarrhoea virus (BVD), infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) and parainfluenza virus 3 (PI3) were not associated with an acute fall in milk production. Cases with rises in antibody to influenza A had significantly higher respiratory scores and rectal temperatures than their controls. The mean loss of milk production for the cases with rises in antibody to influenza A compared to their controls was 159.9L. This study provides further evidence that influenza A persists in cattle and causes clinical disease.