''Mycoplasma meleagridis'' is a small bacteria responsible for

air sacculitis Airsacculitis, also known as air sacculitis, aerosacculitis, air sac disease, air sac infection, air sac syndrome and simply sac disease, is a common inflammatory condition of air sacs that occurs in birds and is caused by various microbial (mos ...

and disorders of the musculoskeletal and reproductive systems in turkeys. These symptoms are also known as Mycoplasma air sacculitis, Mycoplasma infectious stunting, and

Mycoplasmosis ''Mycoplasma'' is a genus of bacteria that, like the other members of the class '' Mollicutes'', lack a cell wall around their cell membranes. Peptidoglycan ( murein) is absent. This characteristic makes them naturally resistant to antibioti ...

. The infection is more severe in young birds and occurs globally wherever turkeys are reared intensively. Transmission is mainly vertical via the egg but ticks such as the Ixodes species can also be vectors.

Clinical signs and diagnosis

The infection is often

subclinical In medicine, any disease is classified asymptomatic if a patient tests as carrier for a disease or infection but experiences no symptoms. Whenever a medical condition fails to show noticeable symptoms after a diagnosis it might be considered asym ...

but may appear as mild stunting. Air sacculitis appears as tachypnoea,

nasal discharge Rhinorrhea, rhinorrhoea, or informally runny nose is the free discharge of a thin mucus fluid from the nose; it is a common condition. It is a common symptom of allergies (hay fever) or certain viral infections, such as the common cold or COVID-1 ...

and sneezing. Musculoskeletal problems can lead to lameness, swelling and crooked necks. There may be a drop in egg production. The bacteria can be

cultured Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tylor ...

from tissue samples or swabs and identified with

PCR PCR or pcr may refer to: Science * Phosphocreatine, a phosphorylated creatine molecule * Principal component regression, a statistical technique Medicine * Polymerase chain reaction ** COVID-19 testing, often performed using the polymerase chain r ...

immunofluorescence Immunofluorescence is a technique used for light microscopy with a fluorescence microscope and is used primarily on microbiological samples. This technique uses the specificity of antibodies to their antigen to target fluorescent dyes to specif ...

. ELISA and the Slide Agglutination Test are used for serological diagnosis.

Treatment and control

Antibiotics are effective at treating and preventing the infection, especially Tylosin but also Lincomycin and Spectinomycin.

Vertical transmission Vertical transmission of symbionts is the transfer of a microbial symbiont from the parent directly to the offspring. Many metazoan species carry symbiotic bacteria which play a mutualistic, commensal, or parasitic role. A symbiont is acquire ...

is difficult to prevent, but males can be tested before breeding and eggs can be dipped in a Tylosin bath.

References

*Mycoplasma meleagridis, expert reviewed and published by Wikivet at http://en.wikivet.net/Mycoplasma_meleagridis accessed 07/10/2011.

External links

Type strain of ''Mycoplasma meleagridis'' at Bac''Dive'' - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase
Bird diseases meleagridis {{mollicutes-stub