Abstract
The current investigation aimed at characterizing the cause of multiple disease outbreaks in the same broiler production unit during a course of 18 months. The outbreaks had mortality rates of up to 22%. Escherichia coli was diagnosed as the responsible agent. Multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis showed that all chicken isolates had identical band patterns. Core genome comparisons demonstrated that the 36 chicken isolates differed with maximum of nine nucleotides indicating that the same E. coli clone was responsible for all seven disease outbreaks despite adherence to the all-in-all production principle and rigorous cleaning and disinfection procedures.
Highlights
The current investigation aimed at characterizing the cause of multiple disease outbreaks in the same broiler produc‐ tion unit during a course of 18 months
A maximum of nine single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) differences in the core genomes of the characterized isolates indicates that the same E. coli clone was the main cause of the seven disease outbreaks in 11 consecutive rotations of the same broiler unit during an 18-month period
Accumulated mortality rates of up to 22% in the affected rotations underlined the severity of the situation
Summary
The current investigation aimed at characterizing the cause of multiple disease outbreaks in the same broiler produc‐ tion unit during a course of 18 months. 34.9 1.8 32.2–37.3 a The total mortality rate was significantly higher (T test) in the E. coli outbreak-affected rotations (p < 0.00009). The affected chickens had generally passed the first week of life, which is a typical period for E. coli infections following vertical transmission.
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