Pasteurella Multocida in indigenous chickens and ducks in Kenya:- A study of carrier status,susceptibility,molecular diagnosis and pathogenesis.

Abstract

Scavenging indigenous bird constitute over 70 % of poultry in Kenya and contributing 71% of the total egg and poultry meat produced in the country. Pasteurella multocida causes fowl cholera, a disease of economic importance in commercial bird production. Its importance in village indigenous chickens and ducks i unknown. In Kenya there i very little documentation on P. multocida and fowl cholera, although these are reported in other African countries. Little is known about the carrier status, age susceptibility disease severity cross -infection molecular diagnosis and pathogenesis of P. multocida in farmed and traded birds and the effect of stress (simulated by immunosuppression in these studies ) on P.multocida infections. For the P. multocida carrier talus a total of 162 scavenging indigenous chickens and 54 ducks were examined. The birds were from smallholder farms, trading centres and slaughterhouses in Kiambu, Machakos, and Nairobi districts, the slaughterhouses receive birds from rural districts in various parts of the country. The sample collected were oropharyngeal and cloacal swabs. Isolalation was done by inoculation onto blood agar and characterized using staining and biochemical tests. All the three documented subspecies of P.multocida were recovered at varying rates.