Salmonella Gallinarum Biovar Pullorum

Background information: Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Gallinarum (antigenic formula 1,9,12:–:–) is a serovar of the O:9 (D₁) serogroup. This serovar has two biovars: Gallinarum, and Pullorum. Biovar Pullorum has been found to exhibit host specificity for aquatic birds, and poultry and is mainly associated with Pullorum disease (PD), which, in its acute form, is almost exclusively a septicemic disease affecting young chickens. PD is mainly egg-transmitted and can result in high death loss in the young birds. Transmission of PD can also occur through direct or indirect contact with infected birds, as well as through contaminated feed, water, litter, or respiratory exposure. Vaccines for PD were not developed until the 21st century, with a sipC mutant recently identified as a promising vaccine candidate for chickens. The National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP), established in the early 1930s to reduce the spread of PD and fowl typhoid, has achieved great success in the U.S. In 1967, all commercial chicken hatcheries involved in the NPIP were fully free of PD caused by Salmonella Gallinarum.

The NCBI PD link for biovar Pullorum is unavailable because SeqSero2, the in silico serotyping tool used by NCBI PD, cannot differentiate: i) between serovars Enteritidis and Gallinarum, and ii) at the biovar level.

Genetic characteristics: Studies have found that isolates from biovar Pullorum were multidrug-resistant.

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Salmonella Gallinarum Biovar Pullorum