Space–Time Patterns of Poultry Pathogens in the USA: A Case Study of Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale and Pasteurella multocida in Turkey Populations

Magnus R. Campler; Amro Hashish; Mostafa Ghanem; Mohamed M. El-Gazzar; Andréia G. Arruda

doi:10.3390/pathogens12081004

Pathogens (Jul 2023)

Space–Time Patterns of Poultry Pathogens in the USA: A Case Study of Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale and Pasteurella multocida in Turkey Populations

Magnus R. Campler,
Amro Hashish,
Mostafa Ghanem,
Mohamed M. El-Gazzar,
Andréia G. Arruda

Affiliations

Magnus R. Campler: Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Amro Hashish: Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Mostafa Ghanem: Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Mohamed M. El-Gazzar: Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Andréia G. Arruda: Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12081004
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 12, no. 8
p. 1004

Abstract

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Respiratory infections caused by Ornithobacterium rhinotrachealis (ORT) and Pasteurella multocida (PM) bacteria are significant threats to the poultry industry by causing economic losses and welfare issues. Due to characterization difficulties and underutilization of epidemiological tools, description of the spatio-temporal spread of these diseases in the field is limited. The objectives of this retrospective observational cross-sectional study were to (a) investigate the existence of space–time clusters (hotspots); and (b) investigate the association between genetic similarity and spatial proximity for both pathogens using molecular typing and a recently developed Core-Genome Multilocus Sequencing Typing (cgMLST) scheme. ORT (n = 103) and PM (n = 69) isolates from confirmed disease outbreaks from one commercial company between 2013 and 2021 were obtained from a veterinary diagnostic laboratory, characterized using a cgMLST scheme and visualized using a minimum spanning tree. Spatio-temporal cluster analysis using SaTScanTM and a Spearman’s rank correlation were performed to investigate clustering and any association between allelic diversity and geospatial distance. The cgMLST sequencing revealed three allelic clusters for ORT and thirteen clusters for PM. The spatio-temporal analysis revealed two significant clusters for PM, one with a 259.3 km cluster containing six cases between May and July 2018 and a 9 km cluster containing five cases between February 2019 and February 2021. No spatio-temporal clusters were found for ORT. A weak negative correlation between allelic diversity and geospatial distance was observed for ORT (r = −0.04, p p < 0.01). This study revealed regional spatio-temporal clusters for PM in commercial turkey sites between 2018 and 2021 and provided additional insight into bacterial strain subgroups and the geographical spread of ORT and PM over time.

Published in Pathogens

ISSN: 2076-0817 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Medicine
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/pathogens

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