STUDYING THE INCIDENCE RATE FOR INFECTING THE LIVER AND INTESTINE OF CHICKENS WITH CLOSTRIDIUM PERFRINGENS USING POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION
Necrotic enteritis and the subclinical form of C. perfringens infection in poultry caused by C. perfringens cause significant economic damage, and may be the cause of infecting and poisoning people consuming poultry products from poultry plants having a clostridiosis problem. Investigations were carried out at the poultry molecular biology sector of the Institute of Experimental Veterinary Science of Siberia and the Far East (Krasnoobsk, Novosibirsk Region), and at the pharmacogenomics laboratory of the Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine (Novosibirsk). By using the PCR analysis, histological and microbiological methods has been evaluated the infection of the intestine of chickens and broiler chickens of different ages, and the value of polymerase chain reaction in the complex diagnosis of clostridiosis has been examined. In some cases, at carrying out histological studies, the cells of Clostridium were found in the necrotic foci in the liver and the intestine. The results of pathological and histological studies were verified by PCR that provided a basis for diagnosing clostridiosis. To study the incidence rate for infecting chickens with C. perfringens, 1052 cloacal swab samples, and 50 samples of pathological material taken at 7 poultry plants of Russia were examined. There was discovered an uneven distribution in chickens infected with C. perfringens (0-80%) that has indicated the presence of unaccounted factors influencing the susceptibility to infection (e.g. structure of the intestine microbiocenosis), or the fact that the effectiveness of preventive measures is sufficient to prevent the contamination of poultry houses with C. perfringens.