Alpha-toxin Gene Linked to Necrotic Enteritis in India
A study conducted on broilers
from India confirmed that Clostridium
perfringens type A was the cause of
necrotic enteritis (NE) and that alpha-toxin
may play a significant role in development
of the disease, say Arunava Das of the
Bannari Amman Institute of Technology,
and associates.
After six broilers died at 2 to 3 weeks of
age on a poultry farm in Meghalaya, India,
investigators performed scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) and evaluated intestinal
contents and liver samples.
SEM revealed massive necrosis and
complete destruction of the intestinal villi
within the intestinal mucosa. Bacterial
isolation confirmed that C. perfringens was
the cause. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
testing of 10 clinical isolates showed they
all harbored the alpha-toxin gene of C. perfringens; four were positive
for the beta2 toxin gene; and none were
positive for the beta, epsilon, iota or
enterotoxin genes.
All isolates derived from NE belonged
to C. perfringens type A and there was
97.6% to 100% homology among the
C. perfringens isolates, they write in a
recent issue of the International Journal
of Poultry Science (7 (6): 601-609, 2008).
The study confirms that C. perfringens
type A is the most predominant one
associated with necrotic enteritis in
broiler chickens in this region of India
and that the alpha-toxin gene might play
a significant role in the pathogenesis
of the disease in broiler chickens, the
investigators conclude.
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