Detecting Bordetella avium in tracheal sections of turkeys by monoclonal antibody-based indirect fluorescence...

Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tracheal sections from turkeys experimentally infected with Bordetella avium were subjected to indirect fluorescent staining using a mouse monoclonal antibody specific to B. avium. Tracheal sections from birds at 2, 3, 5 and 7 weeks after infection showed positive fluorescence. The results were compared with the bacterial numbers determined by a standard plate count method and suggested that the fluorescence test employing the monoclonal antibody was very sensitive in detecting the bacteria colonising the trachea. This technique was also found to be simple and specific for differentiating B. avium from closely related Bordetella bronchiseptica and B. avium-like bacteria which might be present in the birds without causing apparent disease and from other agents that cause similar respiratory disease.