Avian chlamydiosis in wild ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

Between 2007 and 2008, we carried out a non-selective research of avian chlamydiosis in the ducks in the area with extensive population of birds where
hunting is highly developed. Of note is this was the first time avian chlamydiosis was diagnosed in the wild ducks in BiH.
The samples were provided through the hunting associations during the duckshunting season We examined a total of 59 samples of cloacal and oropharingeal swabs of the wild ducks by the following diagnostic methods: bacteriological, ELISA test for the detection of antigen, EIA test, and rRT-PCR test. To avoid false-positive results, we first did bacteriological examination followed by testing cloacal samples by ELISA and EIA tests. Samples positive by ELISA and EIA tests were then sent to the reference laboratory in the Friedrich Loeffler Institute in Jena (Germany) for the rRT-PCR detection of Cp. psittaci. Of the total of 59 cloacal swabs examined by ELISA (IDEIA) and EIA (CW) method for the detection of antigen, seven (11.9%) tested positive. Of the total of seven samples that tested positive by ELISA (IDEIA) and EIA methods, two (28.6%) were positive by rRT-PCR method. The aim was to investigate the presence of avian chlamydiosis in the ducks in Bosnia and Herzegovina.