An Unusual Outbreak of Chlamydiosis in Commercial Turkeys Involving the Nasal Glands

An unusual outbreak of chlamydiosis was diagnosed in 15,000, 13-wk-old organically grown turkeys housed in a semiconfinement housing system. The disease was characterized by unilateral or bilateral swelling above the eye due to mild-to-severe inflammation of the nasal glands in 3%-5% of the birds. Except for a slight drop in feed and water consumption, the birds did not exhibit any respiratory signs, morbidity, and mortality. Chlamydiosis in the turkeys was confirmed by immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, and PCR assay of the nasal glands. Other samples such as conjunctiva, lungs, air sacs, heart, liver, spleen, and feces were negative for chlamydia by florescence antibody test in birds submitted over several weeks. Chlamydia psittaci strain B was isolated in chicken egg embryos and typed by multilocus sequence variable number of tandem repeats analysis, multilocus sequence typing, and ompA gene sequencing as a CP3-like strain. This is the first report of a naturally occurring chlamydiosis affecting the nasal glands in turkeys.