Survey of seroprevalence of Or nithobacterium Rhinotracheale infection in slaughtered broiler chickens in Maragheh,Eastern Azerbaijan-Iran

Or­nithobacterium rhinotracheale has been known as a relatively recently discovered pathogenic bacterial agent in broiler and turkey flocks and it causes economic losses to the poultry industryannually. The purpose of this study was survey of seroprevalence of Or­nithobacterium rhinotrachealeinfection in slaughtered broiler chickens in slaughter house of Maragheh, eastern Azerbaijan-Iran. By referring to poultry industrial slaughter house of Maragheh and recording the location of poultry house and the name of the city, a total of 270 blood samples were randomly taken from broiler flocks and then the samples were transferred to laboratory for gaining their sera. ELISA test was performed on sera. A total of 270 samples ( from 27 different flocks) were taken from poultry industrial slaughter house of Maragheh, 10 serum samples( 3.7%) were positive , 29 serum samples (10.75%) were suspect and 231 serum samples ( 85.55%) were negative. This seroprevalence is less than previous reports of other provinces in Iran.