Pesq. Vet. Bras. 32(7):645-648, julho 2012 645 RESUMO.-A Indústria avícola brasileira cresce anualmente e se torna cada vez mais representativa na produção e exportação dos seus produtos. Os cuidados com a sanida- The Brazilian poultry industry improves annually and is more representative on production and exportation of their products. Care on poultry health cooperates to these developments, however, respiratory agents that affect weight and carcass quality, continue to threaten poultry production. Airsacculitis is considered the main cause of total and/ or partial condemnation of broilers carcasses, being Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) the most important agent of it. This study aimed to detect MG by "Polymerase Chain Reaction" (PCR) and to correlate its positivity with airsacculitis, weight losses and condemnated broilers by Federal Sanitary Inspection. A total of 40 ϐlocks of slaughter broilers under Federal Inspection in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, were randomly selected. In each ϐlock three broilers, regardless of sex, were randomly chosen for necropsy where tracheas were collected and polled in one sample for analysis. For PCR, DNA was extracted by the method of phenol-chloroform and ampliϐied with pairs of speciϐic primers for MG. From the 40 ϐlocks PCR analyzed, 20% (8/40) were positive for MG. MG detection was found to be correlected with airsacculitis increase and weight decrease by multiple logistic regression equation (p<0,05), LogitPi= 7.9409 + (0,5601 x X1) -(3.3080 x X2). Airsacculitis rate increase also correleted with decrease in body weight by simple linear regression equation (p<0.05), Y= 2.1050 -0.6397X. In conclusion, MG positivity is related to airsacculitis which causes weight loss in broilers. In addition, the PCR was an effective technique for the detection of MG in ϐlocks of broilers, but was not affected by the kind of biological specimens collected, as tracheal scraping or swab.
Mycoplasma gallisepticum