Mycoplasmal Salpingitis of Chickens and Turkeys

Experiment 1. One hundred day-old Mycoplasma-gallisepticum-free single-comb White Leghorn chickens were injected via the umbilicus with 0.2 ml of a 24-hr medium-propagated culture of pathogenic Mycoplasma gallisepticum [W strain (4)]. Chicks were necropsied periodically to determine whether salpingitis had occurred and to determine the rate of any occurrence. In addition, when the chickens were 19 weeks old, caseous plugs were obtained at necropsy from the oviducts, ground, and injected into the air sacs of susceptible chickens to determine whether pathogenic mycoplasma were present. At the same time, 13 of the 19-week-old female chickens were housed in individual cages to facilitate keeping individual records of eggs laid, egg quality, and the passage of caseous plugs from the oviducts. Plugs which were passed were cultured for bacteria, including M. gallisepticum. Portions of the plugs were also ground and inoculated into the air sacs of Mycoplasina-gallisepticum-free chickens. Saline-washed yolk sacs from the first few eggs laid by each bird were cultured in their entirety for M. gallisepticum. Cultures thus obtained were inoculated into the air sacs of mycoplasmasusceptible chickens. Plasma samples collected from individual chickens on the afternoon when their first eggs were laid were analyzed for total and diffusable calcium (7,8).