The Diagnosis of Certain Avian Diseases with the Fluorescent Antibody Technique

Abstract

A NUMBER of Mycoplasma species are associated with diseases of poultry. Some are common in mixed poultry infections associated with other pathogens such as Newcastle disease virus (NDV), infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), Haemophilus gallinarum, and Escherichia coli (Osteen, 1962). All of these agents have been differentiated by morphological, biochemical, serological, bird infectivity, and/or lesion characteristics. These manipulations are time-consuming, however, and may still leave doubt (especially with the Mycoplasma spp.) as to the identity and purity of the agent(s) in question. Furthermore, attempts often fail to isolate these agents from infected tissues; where isolation is accomplished there is often doubt as to whether the tissue was contaminated from some other tissue or an external source. It is clear that a rapid test is needed to differentiate these pathogenic agents, especially the Mycoplasma spp., in artificial media and infected tissues. The fluorescent antibody technique was thought of as a possible means…