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  • ThesisItemOpen Access
    Characterisation of Pasteurella multocxda isolates from rabbits
    (Department of Microbiology, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, 1992) Sheela Yohannan; KAU; Jayaprakasan, V
    One hundred and twelve rabbits were examined during this study which included 76 apparently healthy and 36 ailing/ dead rabbits. The live animals comprised 20 young and 56 adult animals, of which, 32 were of New Zealand White, 16 Grey Giant, seven Soviet Chinchilla" and 21 cross bred. This included both healthy and sick animals. Of the 36 ailxny/dead rabbits, 26 of them were of Nev/ Zealand White, six of Soviet Chinchilla and four of Grey Giant. This included 20 young and 16 adult animals. Pasteurella multocida could be isolated from five adult New Zealand White and one adult Grey Giant which died of respiratory infection. Gross pathological lesions observed in post mortem examination were typical haemorrhages in the trachea, haemorrhages and abscessation in lung and necrotic foci in liver. All the six isolates were gram negative coccobacilli, non motile and produced catalase. Two isolates were oxidase negative and four oxidase positive, grew anaerobically, utilised glucose fermentatively and none produced hemolysis of sheep red blood cells. The isolates were positive for nitrate, indole and potassium cyanide except for one isolate which was nitrate negative and two were indole negative. All were negative for hydrogen sulphide production, urease and gelatin hydrolysis. Only one isolate was positive for growth on ONPG. Majority of the sugars were fermented by these isolates. These isolates were tested for their pathogenicity in mice and rabbits. Intra peritoneal injection of one millig litre of an overnight culture containing 10 bacteria/ml, killed mice between 24-72 h post inoculation and the organism could be re-isolated from the dead animals. When rabbits were intra-nasally inoculated, with 0.5 ml of overnight culture containing 3.2 x 10^ bacteria, none of the isolates could establish clinical infection. Though the inoculated rabbits were apparently normal, one isolate colonised within the nares of the rabbit and was shedder for a period of seven days, while the other rabbits inoculated with the remaining five isolates were shedders only upto 48 h.