Outbreak of chronic fowl cholera in broiler breeder in Korea

Fowl cholera is an infectious disease caused by .Pasteurella multocida, affecting domesticated and wild birds. It usually appears as a septicemia of sudden onset with high morbidity and mortality, but chronic conditions that characterized by localized infections often occur. 13wks broiler breeders were submitted to the Kyung-pook national university for diagnosis. Clinical signs included approximately 1% mortality, severe lameness, ruffled feathers and swollen and/or cloudy eyes. At necropsy, the outstanding lesions were seen swollen hock joint, which were suppurative or caseous exudates, inflammation of conjunctiva, severe pneumonia and epicarditis. The causative agent was isolated from the hock joint, liver, sinus and sternum of the chickens, and performed physiological and biochemical test. To identify the serotype of P. multocida, capsular serotyping was conducted by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In the antimicrobial susceptibility test, the isolates were resistance to the aminoglycosides. In this study, we confirmed chronic fowl cholera (FC) caused by P. multocida in broiler breeders in Korea.