Turkey cellulitis, also known as clostridial dermatitis is a significant cause of morbidity, mortality, and carcass condemnation at slaughter resulting in considerable losses for turkey producers. Here, we assessed the potential role of Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) in a cellulitis outbreak on a turkey farm in Iowa. Birds from one farm with a history of cellulitis and one farm with no history of disease (for comparison) were followed from the age of 10 weeks (before the outbreak) to 18 weeks (just prior to slaughter). E. coli recovered from the litter, from skin lesions of birds with cellulitis, and from systemic lesions of birds submitted for necropsy, were assessed. A total of 333 isolates were analyzed and screened for virulence-associated genes, antimicrobial resistance genes including heavy metal resistance, adhesins, invasins, and protectins, iron acquisition systems and their phylogenetic group through multiplex PCR. In addition, PCR was used to serogroup the isolates, and pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was used to analyze a subset of strains from the farm environment (litter) and birds at 17 and 18 weeks of age when the cellulitis infection appeared to peak. Overall, E. coli isolates recovered from cellulitis lesions and systemic infection were identified as APEC, while a lower prevalence of E. coli recovered from the litter met the criteria of APEC-like. Direct comparison of E. coli isolates from the litter, lesions, and systemic strains using PFGE failed to find identical clones across all three sources reflecting the diversity of strains present in the poultry environment causing disease. This study highlights the role of APEC in turkey cellulitis and should not be overlooked as a significant contributor to the disease in turkeys.

土耳其蜂窝织炎，也称为梭菌性皮炎，是发病，死亡和屠宰时car体定罪的重要原因，给火鸡生产者造成了巨大损失。在这里，我们评估了禽病原的潜在作用大肠杆菌（APEC）在爱荷华州的一个火鸡农场发生蜂窝组织炎。从一个有蜂窝织炎病史的农场和一个没有疾病史的农场（供比较）对禽类进行追踪，从10周龄（爆发前）到18周龄（屠宰前）。大肠杆菌评估了从垫料，患有蜂窝织炎的禽类的皮肤损伤以及提交尸检的鸟类的全身性损伤中恢复的情况。通过多重PCR，共分析并分离了333种分离物的毒力相关基因，包括重金属抗药性，粘附素，侵袭素和保护素在内的抗药性基因，铁捕获系统及其系统进化基团。此外，PCR用于对分离株进行血清分组，脉冲场凝胶电泳（PFGE）用于分析农场环境（凋落物）和17周龄和18周龄蜂窝织炎感染达到高峰时的禽类菌株。 。总体，大肠杆菌 从蜂窝织炎病变和全身感染中分离出的分离株被鉴定为APEC，而 大肠杆菌从垃圾中回收的符合APEC标准。直接比较大肠杆菌使用PFGE从垫料，病变和全身菌株中分离出的菌株未能在所有三个来源中找到相同的克隆，从而反映出导致疾病的家禽环境中菌株的多样性。这项研究强调了APEC在火鸡蜂窝织炎中的作用，并且不应被认为是造成火鸡疾病的重要因素。