Is Mycoplasma synoviae outrunning Mycoplasma gallisepticum? A viewpoint from the Netherlands

Figures & data

Table 1. Worldwide sero-prevalence of M. synoviae in layers and the occurrence of M. synoviae pathology in layers and broilers.

Continent	Country	Sero-prevalence in layers (%)	EAA	IS	AS	References
Europe	the Netherlands	73	+	+		(Landman & Feberwee, 2001; Feberwee et al., 2008, 2009)
	Belgium		+^a	+		(Landman & Feberwee, 2001)
	Germany	95^b	+	+		(Hinz & Luders, 1969a, b; Kohn et al., 2009; Ranck et al., 2010)
	Denmark		+^a
	UK	78	+		+	(MacOwan et al., 1982; Hagan et al., 2004; Strugnell et al., 2011)
	France		+	+		(Bouchardon, 2012)
	Italy		+	+		(Catania et al., 2010)
Asia	Japan		+^a	+	+	(Sato, 1996)
	China		+^a	+
	Philippines	30				(Sato, 1996)
	Korea		+^a		+	(Sato, 1996)
Africa	South Africa			+	+	(Buys, 1976)
Oceania	Australia	69	+^c	+	+	(Gilchrist & Cottew, 1974; Morrow et al., 1990; Gole et al., 2012)
America	USA	84	+^a	+	+	(King et al., 1973; Mohammed et al., 1986; Kang et al., 2002)
	Colombia		+^d

EAA, eggshell apex abnormalities; IS, infectious synovitis; AS, airsacculitis. ^aC. Morrow, personal communication, 2009. ^bDetermined by polymerase chain reaction. ^cStatistically significant association between the occurrence of M. synoviae antibodies and eggshell translucency, shell breaking strength, percentage shell reflectivity and shell deformation, but not with egg weight, egg shell weight, percentage egg shell or shell thickness (Gole et al., 2012). ^dR. Delgado, personal communication, 2013.

Table 2. Dutch M. gallisepticum and M. synoviae control and eradication programmes performed by GD—Animal Health Service: sampling frequency for sero-monitoring, sample size, detectable sero-prevalence, tests, interpretation, confirmation analysis and control measures taken per poultry category in case of infection.

							Control measures
Poultry category	Sampling age	Sample size per house^a	Detectable sero-prevalence (%)^a	Tests	Criterion for a positive sample	Confirmation analysis (maximum 10 positive samples)^b	M. gallisepticum	M. synoviae
Breeder chickens	End of rearing^c	30 to 60^d	≥10 to ≥5	GPS: combination ELISA Mg/Ms^e. PS: RPA Mg^f, RPA Ms^f	ELISA-positive Agglutination at serum dilution 1:2	ELISA Mg^g, ELISA Ms^h, PCR^i	Slaughter all birds on the farm	Voluntarily slaughter all birds on the farm (GPS only)
	GPS at age of 22 weeks and every 8 weeks
	PS at ages of 22 and 30 weeks and every 12 weeks
Layer chickens	End of rearing	24	≥12	RPA Mg, RPA Ms	Agglutination at serum dilution 1:2	ELISA Mg, ELISA Ms	“Channelling”^j	None
	End of lay	10	≥26	RPA Mg, RPA Ms		ELISA Mg, ELISA Ms	Vaccination^k	None
Meat turkeys	End of growing period	24	≥12	RPA Mg, RPA Ms	Agglutination, undiluted serum	ELISA Mg, ELISA Ms	None	None

GPS, grandparent stock; Mg, M. gallisepticum; Ms, M. synoviae; PS, parent stock. ^aAt given sample size and sero-prevalence there is a 95% chance to find at least one positive serum sample (Johnson et al., 2004). ^bResults of M. gallisepticum examinations are sent to the farmer, the veterinarian, the hatchery, the Commodity Board for Poultry and Eggs and the Dutch Early Warning System (DEAS). The DEAS sends information on disease outbreaks to all Dutch poultry veterinary practices, while M. synoviae results are sent only to the farmer. ^cSampling of replacement cockerels for M. gallisepticum is compulsory; for sampling size see footnote d. ^dOne per cent of the flock must be sampled with a minimum sample size of 30 and a maximum of 60, except for M. synoviae serology of PS where the sample size is always 30 per flock. A flock is defined as a group of commercial chickens or turkeys (≥250 birds) of the same age, and for turkeys also of the same gender, housed together (flocks <250 birds are regarded as game birds and are not sampled). ^eIDEXX Mg/Ms antibody test (IDEXX Laboratories Inc., Westbrook, Maine, USA). ^fAntigen from Soleil sarl (Cantenay-Épinard, France). ^gIDEXX Mg antibody test. ^hIDEXX Ms antibody test. ⁱPolymerase chain reaction (PCR) is performed on 60 trachea swabs per flock as described elsewhere (Raviv & Kleven, 2009) and is compulsory for M. gallisepticum and is voluntary forM. synoviae. ^j M. gallisepticum-positive rearing flocks are housed on M. gallisepticum-positive layer farms. ^kVaccination of M. gallisepticum-free rearing flocks with inactivated oil–emulsion vaccine to be housed on M. gallisepticum-positive multiple-age layer farms. Vaccinated flocks with positive M. gallisepticum serology at the end of lay are considered M. gallisepticum infected.

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