Bordetellosis is an upper respiratory disease, primarily seen in young turkeys, caused by infection with
Bordetella avium. This subject has recently been reviewed (Skeels and Arp, 1997). The disease is characterized in young turkeys by sneezing, oculonasal discharge, mouth breathing, tracheal collapse, and stunted growth. The disease is most commonly referred to as turkey coryza because its clinical appearance is somewhat similar to the clinical signs of infectious coryza in chickens.
Bordetella avium infects and causes disease in turkeys, chickens, and Japanese quail. The disease in chickens is mild in comparison to the disease in turkeys and B. avium may play only a secondary role in respiratory
disease in young chickens. In young turkeys, the disease is very contagious and acute signs of upper respiratory disease spread rapidly through a flock. Morbidity may reach 100% but the mortality rate is typically 5% or less.
Feed intake and body weight gain are negatively impacted, which contributes to the overall poor performance
of a B. avium-infected young turkey flock. The signs of the respiratory disease typically abate in 2 to 4
wk. Vaccination of turkeys to prevent bordetellosis has had only limited success. Inactivated B. avium whole cell bacterins have been used to immunize turkey breeder hens for the purpose of producing high levels of
maternal antibodies in the progeny. Although it appears that maternal antibodies delay the onset of infection in
the progeny, they do not successfully prevent infection nor eliminate the signs of the disease. A temperaturesensitive live vaccine has also been extensively used to immunize young poults. The use of the vaccine has generally been less than successful. It may be that poults are incapable of responding adequately to B. avium antigens at a very young age. Antibiotic treatment of flocks suffering with bordetellosis has provided minimal clinical improvement.
