S1 gene based phylogeny of Israel variant-2 infectious bronchitis virus isolated in Turkey in a five year period.

Infectious bronchitis (IB) is an important disease that causes severe economic loses in the poultry industry worldwide. Furthermore, the spread of new variants poses a challenge for diagnosis and control of the disease. This study investigated the situation of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), specifically the Israel variant-2 (IS var-2) also known as GI-23 genotype, in Turkey. Between 2014 and 2019, 214 flocks vaccinated against H120 from Marmara, Western Black Sea, and Inner Anatolia were examined, with 127 (59.3%) flocks testing positive for IBV, of which 92 (72.4%) were positive for IS var-2. Of the latter samples, 60 were randomly selected and subjected to full S1 gene sequencing. The analysis indicated that the field strain in Turkey was located on the same branch as the GI-23 genotype, which is one of the most frequently observed wild-type cluster found in the Middle East. The DNA similarities between the GI-23 isolates from 2014 to 2019 were 99%. In conclusion, the IS var-2 genotype has been circulating in broiler flocks in Turkey. It is recommended that establishing the vaccine strategy it should be considered the current circulating strains for the prevention and control of the disease among poultry.

Detection and differentiation of Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium by multiplex quantitative PCR from different poultry matrices.

1. The aim of this study was to develop a multiplex quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) based molecular diagnostic kit for rapid diagnosis of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis and S. enterica serovar Typhimurium serotypes, which are frequently isolated worldwide from poultry samples.2. Detection and discrimination of S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium were performed by targeting the sdf and the STM4492 (putative cytoplasmic protein) gene, respectively. The invA (invasion protein) gene was used to detect Salmonella spp. as a target gene, since it is considered a standard. In this study, a total of 200 bacterial strains (178 Salmonella spp. strains and 22 other genera) were used to test the specificity and sensitivity of the developed kit. The limit of detection (LOD) of the assays was determined to be 100-101 cfu/25 g from chicken meat samples artificially contaminated by litter and 100-101 cfu/ml for cloacal swab samples.3. The multiplex qPCR results were 100% compatible with conventional serotyping results while the specificity and sensitivity values were 100%. These findings indicated that the newly developed multiplex qPCR technique can provide an alternative method to conventional serotyping of S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium in laboratories lacking adequate infrastructure.

Species distribution, genetic diversity and antimicrobial susceptibility of Campylobacter isolates recovered from the preputial cavity of healthy rams in Turkey.

AIMS: Campylobacter sp. are important causes of reproductive disease in ruminants worldwide. Although healthy bulls are well-known carriers for infection of cows, the role of rams as a potential source for infecting ewes is unclear. This study aimed to determine prevalence, species distribution, genetic diversity and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of Campylobacter sp. isolated from the preputial cavity of healthy rams. METHODS AND RESULTS: The material of this prospective study comprised 191 swab samples taken from the preputial cavity of healthy rams. Enrichment and membrane filtration were employed for the isolation of Campylobacter. Presumptive isolates were confirmed as Campylobacter by phenotypic and molecular tests. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis was used for the definitive identification of the isolates at species level, and genotyping was performed using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). The susceptibility of the Campylobacter sp. isolates to various antibiotics was determined by the disk diffusion test. In all, 27 of the 191 (14·13%) swab samples were found to be positive for Campylobacter sp. (28 isolates were recovered in total). Per phenotypic and genotypic analyses, one isolate was identified as Campylobacter mucosalis and the remaining 27 isolates were identified as Campylobacter sputorum bv. faecalis. The PFGE analysis of the C. sputorum biovar faecalis isolates produced 17 clusters and 24 different pulsotypes, indicating high genetic heterogeneity. All 28 isolates were found to be susceptible to all of the antibiotics tested. CONCLUSIONS: Healthy rams may be an important reservoir of different Campylobacter species in the preputium. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This study demonstrated for the first time that healthy rams can carry different Campylobacter sp. including genetically diverse C. sputorum bv. faecalis and C. mucosalis in the preputial cavity. Further investigation on the potential implication of this finding on sheep reproductive health (e.g. infectious infertility, and abortion) and overall epidemiology of Campylobacter may be warranted.