Establishment of a Turkey Flock Free of ‘N’ Strain Mycoplasma

Abstract

Mycoplasma of the ‘N’ strain are frequently isolated from turkey poults affected with airsacculitis but free of Mycoplasma gallisepticum¹. Research on the ‘N’ strain has been impeded by the presence of a high proportion of turkey poults with airsacculitis in all breeding flocks examined^1,2,4,5, by the difficulty of culturing and identifying the Mycoplasma strains, and by the lack of a practical serologic test. This communication describes the establishment of a small nucleus of ‘N’-free turkeys from a commercial breeding flock known to carry ‘N’ Mycoplasma. Hens and toms for the production of ‘N’-free poults were selected from the parent flock by serology and culture.