Does M. Gallisepticum Cause Respiratory Disease?

Levishon and kleven (2000) discussed that the most dramatic disease of M. gallisepticum was chronic respiratory disease in meat type birds, often as one of several aetiological agents in a multi-factorial disease complex. Phenotypic variation of major surface antigens occurs at high frequency which was a probable explanation for chronic infection by M. gallisepticum despite a strong immune response.

Bradbury et al. (2001) mentioned that avian Mycoplasma was caused by several pathogenic Mycoplasmas of which Mycoplasma gallisepticum which was considered the most important pathogenic one so, the office international des Epizootic (OIE) had designated the disease caused by M. gallisepticum as notifiable. M. gallisepticum occurred world-wide and was particularly important in chicken and turkeys as a cause of respiratory disease and decrease production.
gallisepticum infection is caused by an organism classified as a mycoplasma. This organism is similar to bacteria, but lacks a cell wall. This characteristic makes MG extremely fragile. They are easily killed by disinfectants, heat, sunlight, and other factors. They only remain viable in the environment outside the chicken for typically up to 3 days. For this reason, MG is fairly easy to eliminate on single-age and all-in all-out poultry farms. "If a laying flock is infected, complete depopulation of the farm at the end of the laying cycle and providing down-time prior to reintroducing chickens will be successful in eliminating MG. However, complete depopulation must be performed to break the cycle and prevent re-infection in subsequent flocks on the