Molecular Detection and Phylogenetic Analysis of Riemerella anatipestifer in Poultry and Wild Geese in Poland

Abstract

Riemerella anatipestifer (RA) is one of the most relevant bacterial pathogens of commercial waterfowl from clinical and economic points of view. Our study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of RA infection in different types of commercial poultry in Poland and verify the potential role of wild geese as vectors of this pathogen. We tested a total of 126 poultry flocks, including geese (N = 20), ducks (N = 42), turkeys (N = 64) and 19 wild geese, including greater white-fronted geese (N = 9), greylag geese (N = 5) and Taiga bean geese (N = 5). Tracheal swabs were examined for RA using a PCR targeting a conserved region of the 16S rRNA gene. Selected PCR products were sequenced to perform the phylogenetic analysis. Among the commercial poultry, the highest RA prevalence was found in flocks of ducks (35.7%) and geese (30.0%), whereas the lowest one was found in turkeys (3.2%). Most tested wild geese (94.7%) were RA positive. The phylogenetic analysis showed relatively low genetic diversity of the sequences analyzed, which gathered in two clusters of the phylogenetic tree, and the minimum nucleotide identity was 98.6%. Our results would support the contention that RA isolates from commercial poultry circulate in wild bird populations but are not transmitted back to poultry.

Identification of Critical Immune Regulators and Potential Interactions of IL-26 in Riemerella anatipestifer-Infected Ducks by Transcriptome Analysis and Profiling

“…Riemerella anatipestifer (RA), formerly known as Pasteurella anatipestifer, is a Gramnegative bacterium from the Flavobacteriaceae family that is considered one of the most economically impactful infectious diseases affecting domestic fowl species worldwide. It mainly infects ducklings and contributes to strain-dependent mortality and morbidity rates of up to 90% and 100%, respectively, in infected ducks or stunted growth in convalescent birds [4][5][6]. RA infection can be acute or chronic, with acute infection being more common in ducks younger than 8 weeks of age [7].…”

Characterization of Riemerella anatipestifer Strains Isolated from Various Poultry Species in Poland

“…More than 90% of the strains are resistant to aminoglicosides and antibiotics from the polymyxin group [2,11]. It can be observed that the number of manuscripts describing R. anatipestifer infections in European countries has increased in the last two decades [1,10,[13][14][15][16]. The number of poultry farms in Poland has been gradually increasing in recent decades.…”