Isolation and identification of bacterial respiratory pathogens in Japanese quails.

Bacterial pathogens which cause respiratory diseases in Japanese quails were studied. Necropsy was conducted on 53 Japanese quails showing respiratory disease symptoms (both dead and ailing birds) from 5 commercial Japanese quail farms. A total of 113 biomaterials, such as heart blood swabs, visceral organs (trachea, air sacs, lung and liver samples), infra orbital sinus exudates were collected for isolation of pathogenic bacteria. The bacterial pathogens were identified by using selective media and by biochemical identification methods. In biochemical identification IMVIC tests and carbohydrate fermentation tests were performed. In total, 32 (56.14%), 16 (28.07%), 9 (15.78%) isolates were identified as E. coli, P. multocida and H. paragallinarum respectively. E. coli was isolated in pure culture from 20 cases, from another 9 cases along with P. multocida, and in 3 cases with H. paragallinarum. P. multocida was recovered in pure cultures from 7 cases and H. paragallinarum was isolated purely from 6 cases.