RESUMO
Restriction endonuclease analysis (REA) and plasmid profile were used to study the epidemiology of Pasteurella multocida in a swine pyramid structure. The studied pyramid was comprised of a group of 12 swine farrow-to-finish farms related by unidirectional animal movement. P. multocida isolates were obtained from the lungs of 275 slaughtered pigs. Serotyping was performed by hyaluronidase sensitivity test and toxicity was investigated by the ELISA test. HpaII was used to cleave the P. multocida extracted DNA. REA patterns relationships were studied using the Sokal-Michener coefficients, and the dendrogram was built using the UPGMA system. The 218 P. multocida isolates obtained were distributed in 17 REA patterns. In 9 of the 12 farms studied only 2-3 REA patterns were detected, with one clearly predominant pattern. The 81 strains with plasmids were assigned to six plasmid profiles. REA and plasmid profiles proved to be good epidemiological tools for identifying different strains of P. multocida with the same phenotype.