Abstract:
Pasteurella gallinarum-related outbreaks in chickens and African guinea fowls are described. Four
outbreaks were recorded in chickens and one in guinea fowls. Periorbital swelling and keratoconjunctivitis
were the consistently present clinical signs in all the diseased birds. In several, swollen hocks
and wattles were also discerened. Birds which succumbed to the infection showed petechiation in
the internal organs and evidence of airsacculitis. Pasteurella gallinarum was isolated from the lesions
and also from conjunctival swabs of the apparently healthy in-contact birds. There was no evidence
of concurrent infection with Haemophilus, Mycoplasma or Chlamydia. Quinolone therapy when resorted
to on one of the farms resolved the clinical signs. Phenotypes of 28 isolates were studied. The
results compared well with the Pasteurella gallinarum isolates reported earlier from elsewhere. It was
also found that results of xylose fermentation and ONPG test appear to be a variable character. There
is no earlier report of P. gallinarum infection in guinea fowls.
