Turkey Cellulitis: Descriptive Epidemiology and Molecular Characterization of Potential Etiological Agents

Abstract

Turkey cellulitis is a major disease across all geographic regions of the U.S. In 2006 and 2007 it ranked among the top five disease concerns. Currently, the agent associated with the development of cellulitis in turkeys is unknown, with clostridia being the main suspect. This study aims to (1) characterize the descriptive epidemiology of turkey cellulitis, including evaluation of the time, place, and host characteristics of this disease in turkeys and (2) identity of the molecular characteristics of clostridia associated with turkey cellulitis. Our preliminary data indicates that Clostridium perfringens and C. septicum are not isolated from healthy birds, but C. septicum is consistently isolated from sick birds. We are currently generating data on toxin typing and MLST to evaluate relatedness of C. septicum isolated from affected flocks. This is the first study to comprehensively characterize the etiological agent of turkey cellulitis.