Izolacja szczepów Salmonella Typhimurium var. Copenhagen od padłych gołębi i ocena ich immunogenności

The aim of the study was to isolate and identify the pathogen responsible for mortality in pigeons, and to choose the most immunogenic strain of Salmonella to prepare a vaccine. The study was conducted in two stages. The first stage consisted of isolating and identifying the strains, as well as preparing vaccine prototypes. The material for bacteriological examination comprised samples of parenchymal organs (heart, liver, spleen), intestines, and swabs from synovial cavities. Three strains were isolated and identified as Salmonella Typhimurium var. Copenhagen by biochemical and serological tests. The isolates were used to prepare three prototype vaccines, which were combined with an adjuvant consisting of Carbomer and Ginseng extract. In the second stage, the immunogenicity of the prototype vaccines was evaluated in 24 racing pigeons aged 6-8 weeks, which were divided into 4 experimental groups. Agglutination antibody titers in the serum of immunized birds were evaluated by the tube agglutination test at days 0, 7, 14, and 28 after vaccination. One of the three experimental vaccines generated higher agglutination titers than the others, and was selected for further testing.