Infectious Coryza

I would agree that isolation of Av. paragallinarum is a challenge. I would recommed that you look for birds in the early stage of the disease process (NOT Golfball eyes). From these early stage birds, the best option is to sample the infra-orbital sinus. We heat sear the surface and then slice the sinus open with a sterile scalpel. The sinus is swabbed and then plated onto blood agar and chocolate agar. We use a nurse colony (Staph hyicus) and a candle jar. I found little success with sampling deeper into the respiratory tract BUT this is in setting where we had pure coryza and little in the way of complications. My colleague in Argentina (Horacio Terzolo) was able to isolate the agent from systemtic sites (liver, hock and so on) BUT this is a rare observation. Best to concentrate on the infra-orbital sinus. Pat Blackall

A very informative article with some new inputs, both of the diseases are very dangerous and usually cause heavy losses in flocks. A good immunization program with some good vaccines may be an answer but sometimes even vaccinated flocks get the infection.

Thanks Dr. Pat for the valuable information you are sharing with us as we are really looking for a tool to identify the Infectious Coryza and also to do serotyping to know which vaccine we shall use A or B or C? We had some isolates from the filed on Blood agar without Satph (Aouth African like strain??) but these were so fragile and need refereshment from time to time in the refrigerator!! I hope in the near future we will be able to send sampes to your lab for further identification?

Dr Ramzee - Agree that even with good vaccination programs, there will sometimes be problems - overwhelming challenge, high stress levels, immuno-supression are additional factors that can imacpt on even the best vaccination program. Pat Blackall

Nadim, Good to hear from you. I am always happy to do my best to help in these situations. Australia has strict quarantine rules BUT I do have a permit that allows importation. Please contact me direct for more details. Pat Blackall