Western
Meeting of Poultry
Clinicians and Pathologists
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Clinicians and Pathologists
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MS Control Program in BC Hatching Egg Flocks Victoria A. Bowes Animal Health Centre In British Columbia, as part of a routine health monitoring program, serological profiles are determined for hatching egg flocks prior to and four weeks following the administration of killed vaccine. In 1993, as part of a disease investigation, several mid-production flocks tested positive for Mycoplasma synoviae (MS). As a consequence, all flocks were additionally tested for MS at 35 weeks of age. Thirty-five percent of flocks tested positive for MS. At no time has there been clinical disease attributable to MS in the breeders or their progeny. A "Vet Group" was assembled to formulate a voluntary control policy with the ultimate goal to eliminate MS from BC hatching egg flocks. With a 35% prevalence rate, test and slaughter was impractical. It was recognized that layers, multi-age flocks and possibly the pullet growers were endemic sources of MS. The control program proposal involved the identification of seropositive flocks and the implementation of a combination biosecurity/antibiotic treatment protocol for these farms. After three years, the program was assessed and the overall prevalence of MS had actually increased to 46%. Many originally negative flocks remained negative (38 flocks), but many of the positive farms remained positive despite treatment (10 flocks). Ten flocks went from positive to negative. Some farms had an erratic pattern of negative and positive status (9 farms). The next step will be to explore the role of vaccination for MS on those farms that remain multi-age and seropositive. |
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