Seroprevalence of <i>Mycoplasma gallisepticum</i> infection in chicken in the greater Rajshahi district of Bangladesh

Abstract

A serological investigation of Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) infection in chicken was conducted in the greater Rajshahi district of Bangladesh on 115 flocks during the period from July 2006 to June 2007. A total of 575 sera samples were collected and tested by serum plate agglutination (SPA) test using Mycoplasma gallisepticum antigen (Nobilis MG, Intervet International B.V. Boxmeer-Holland) to determine specific antibodies in different flocks. The overall seroprevalence of MG infection in different flocks was recorded as 55.13%. Seroprevalence of MG infection was found significantly (p < 0.05) higher during winter season (61.48%) than in summer (47.74%). Again this was recorded in different age groups, with significantly (p < 0.01) higher occurrence in young (72.72%) compared to adult (44.00%). On the other hand, the seroprevalence of MG infection was found little (p>0.05) higher in large flocks (62.86%) in comparison to small flocks (52.00%). It has been found that MG infection is still an important disease problem in chickens in Bangladesh. Key words: Seroprevalence, Mycoplasma gallisepticum, chicken, serum plate agglutination (SPA) test DOI = 10.3329/bjvm.v5i1.1302 Bangl. J. Vet. Med. (2007). 5 (1 & 2): 09-14