The diagnosis and molecular epidemiology investigation of avian hepatitis E in Shandong province, China.

Background: Avian hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the pathogenic agent of big liver and spleen disease (BLS) and of hepatitis-splenomegaly syndrome (HSS) in chickens, which have caused economic losses to the poultry industry in China. In this study, 18 samples of BLS chickens were collected to reveal the molecular epidemiological characteristics of avian HEV in the province of Shandong, China.

Results: Gross and microscopic lesions of clinical samples were observed; then, virology detection and genetic analysis of avian HEV were performed.

Prevalence and multilocus sequence typing of Clostridium perfringens isolated from different stages of a duck production chain.

Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens) is a zoonotic microorganism and rarely reported in duck production chain. This study aimed to investigate prevalence, serotype distribution, antibiotic resistance and genetic diversity of C.

Prevalence and characterization of Clostridium perfringens isolated from different chicken farms in China.

Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens) is a common pathogenic microorganism present in nature, which can cause animal and human diseases, such as necrotizing enteritis (NE) in poultry. Little is known about the current prevalence status of C.

Prevalence and multilocus sequence typing of Clostridium perfringens isolated from 4 duck farms in Shandong province, China.

Clostridium perfringens is an important zoonotic microorganism. The present study was undertaken to investigate prevalence, serotype distribution, antibiotic resistance, and genetic diversity of C. perfringens isolates from 4 duck farms in Shandong, China.

Transmission identification of Escherichia coli aerosol in chicken houses to their environments using ERIC-PCR.

In order to study E. coli aerosol spreading from chicken houses to their surrounding air, air samples, including indoor and outdoor air (upwind 10 and 50 m as well as downwind 10, 50, 100, 200 and 400 m away) of 5 chicken houses were collected using six-stage Andersen microbial samplers and Reuter-Centrifugal samplers (RCS). E.