Bal Arılarında Amerikan Yavru Çürüklüğü Sıklığı: 2015-2020 Veteriner Kontrol Merkez Araştırma Enstitüsü Verileri

Abstract

American foulbrood is one of the most dangerous brood diseases, resulting in huge economic losses for the beekeeping industry on a global scale. The causative agent is Gram-positive, spore-forming Paenibacillus larvae. This study aimed to retrospectively evaluate the yearly and seasonal distribution of P. larvae isolated from American foulbrood specimens sent to the Bacteriological Diagnosis Laboratory of the Veterinary Control Central Research Institute in Turkey from 2015 to 2020. The presence of P. larvae was investigated in the samples obtained from honeycombs with and without larvae and honeybees using conventional methods. Among the total 159 samples examined, P. larvae was identified in 49 (30.8%). According to the results, for the 2015-2020 period, the highest number of positive cases was observed in 2017 (8.8%), followed by 2018 (7.5%), 2016 (6.3%), 2015 (5%), and 2019 (3.1%). It was determined that the disease gradually increased from 2015 to 2017 and gradually decreased in the following years. In terms of the seasonal distribution of the positive cases, most were seen in summer (12%), followed by spring (9.4%), autumn (8.2%), and winter (1.9%). The data on American foulbrood in Turkey mostly consist of regional studies, and there is still a need for national epidemiological studies on this subject.