Bordetella bronchiseptica
infection causing
atrophic rhinitis in pigs is reported from almost all countries. In the present study, occurrence of
Bordetella infection in apparently healthy pigs was determined in 392 pigs sampled to collect 358 serum samples and 316 nasal swabs from Northern India by conventional bacterioscopy, detection of
antigen with multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mPCR), and detection of
antibodies with microagglutination test (MAT) and
enzyme linked immune-sorbent assay (ELISA). Bordetella bronchiseptica could be isolated from six (1.92%) nasal swabs. Although isolates varied significantly in their antimicrobial sensitivity, they had similar plasmid profile. The genus specific and species specific amplicons were detected from 8.2% and 4.4% nasal swabs using mPCR with alc gene (genus specific) and fla gene and fim2 gene (species specific) primers, respectively. Observations revealed that there may be other bordetellae infecting pigs because about 50% of the samples positive using mPCR for genus specific amplicons failed to confirm presence of B. bronchiseptica. Of the pig sera tested with MAT and ELISA for Bordetella
antibodies, 67.6% and 86.3% samples, respectively, were positive. For
antigen detection mPCR was more sensitive than conventional bacterioscopy while for detection of
antibodies neither of the two tests (MAT and ELISA) had specificity in relation to
antigen detection. Study indicated high prevalence of
infection in swine herds in Northern India.