Distribution of Mycoplasma Gallisepticum in Selected Tissues and Organs of Artificially Infected Turkeys

Abstract

AIR-SAC infection (PPLO) in poultry is one of the most troublesome and persistent ailments that prey upon the industry. This disease was the cause in 1963 and 1964 for 38% and 40%, respectively, of the total condemnations of poultry carcasses under inspection regulations of the Poultry Inspection Service in the U.S.D.A. (McKee, 1965). An accurate and rapid method of diagnosis is important to selection of wholesome meat as well as for control and eradication of disease in affected flocks.In a series of reports, Nelson (1935, 1936a, b) described the isolation of an organism which he called “coccobacilliform bodies” from a fowl with coryza of slow onset and long duration. Van Herick and Eaton (1945), while passing a virus of atypical pneumonia in chicken embryos, reported isolation of an organism which was “pleuropneumonia-like.” They concluded the eggs were the source of contamination. Experimental proof that a pleuro-pneumonia-like organism is the …