Investigation on Seroprevalence of Mycoplasma Gallisepticum Infection in Commercial Layer Farms in Rajshahi District Using Rapid Serum Plate Agglutination Test

Abstract

Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) infection is very common in birds that cause respiratory infections in chickens, turkeys, and other avian species. It has brought about a considerable amount of financial losses to the poultry sector in Bangladesh. We conducted a study on the Seroprevalence of MG infection in two different geographical areas of Bangladesh under Rajshahi district, namely Paba and Bagmaraupazila. 800 sera samples were collected and tested with Rapid Serum Plate Agglutination Test (RSA) to identify the MG antibodies using commercial Mycoplasma gallisepticum antigen. The gross Seroprevalence of MG infection was 59.25% in the study area. The maximum rate (68.80%) of infection was found in the winter season, followed by the summer season (49.36%). The result further revealed that the condition was higher (69.01%) in larger-sized flocks than in small (53.63%). We noticed that younger birds having 10-20 weeks of age are more prone to be affected with avian mycoplamosis with an infection rate of 72% compared to their adult counterpart of 71+ weeks with 52% morbidity. Our study revealed that Mycoplasma gallisepticum infection is prevalent in Paba and Bagmaraupazila in Rajshahi. The farms should take strict bio-security measures to mitigate this infection in the mentioned areas. Proper medications for the affected birds and timely prophylactic measures for the healthy ones could be practical and preventive strategies against avian mycoplasmosis. Amid limitations, we conducted our experiments, and thus further research is warranted to substantially assess and validates our observations.