The possible role of ureaplasma in a continuous infertility problem in turkeys

A turkey-breeding operation in Eastern Europe had been suffering from an infertility problem for about 1 year. During the first visit of the investigation, ureaplasma was isolated from 4 out of 10 toms and 3 out of 5 hens randomly selected from a flock of 250 males and 2,200 females. The candled fertility at the time of investigation was 66%. Twelve weeks later, ureaplasma was isolated from five out of five hens from a flock that had a candled fertility of 51%, whereas no isolations were made from five out of five hens that had a fertility of 94%. Stained preparations of semen were evaluated, demonstrating an increased number of stressed abnormal spermatozoa. Histopathological lesions suggestive of a mycoplasma infection were observed in the oviduct of females. Several tests were conducted for various viral and bacterial infections and for the presence of mycotoxins in the feed; all were negative.