Multiplex PCR of Avian Pathogenic Mycoplasmas

More than 20 mycoplasma species have been isolated and characterized from avian sources (1 ). Only four avian mycoplasmas species are known to cause economic losses in commercial poultry production. Mycoplasma gallisepticum (Mg) infection commonly causes chronic respiratory disease (CRD) in chickens and infectious sinusitis in turkeys (2 ), M. synoviae (Ms) infection most frequently occurs as a subclinical upper respiratory infection and synovitis in chickens and turkeys (3 ), M. iowae (Mi) causes decrease in hatchability and high embryo mortality in turkeys (4 ), and M. meleagridis (Mm) is the cause of an egg-transmitted disease of turkeys in which the primary lesion is an airsacculitis in the progeny, which leads to lower hatchability and skeletal abnormalities in young turkeys (5 ).