Actinobacillosis

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae is the etiological agent of pig haemorrhagic pleuropneumonia, or actinobacillosis. This disease is the cause of economic losses in a large number of industrial farms.

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae is a pleomorphic Gram negative coccobacillus from the Pasteurellaceae family (Borr, 1991).

NAD requirements subdivide the A. pleuropneumoniae species into 2 distinct biovars: biovar 1 whose constituent strains are NAD-dependent and biovar 2, whose constituent strains are NAD-independent. Serotyping of A. pleuropneumoniae strains is based upon the organism’s capsular polysaccharide antigens (Mittal et al., 1983). In this manner, 14 serotypes have been distinguished, serotypes 1 and 5 being subdivided into 1a, 1b and 5a, 5b respectively (Jolie et al., 1994 – Nielsen, 1986).

A. pleuropneumoniae is frequently isolated from the nasal cavities, from tonsils and from lungs.

It is now known that other bacteria belonging to the Pasteurellaceae family are also present in the upper respiratory tract of pigs : Haemophilus parasuis (causative agent of Glasser’s disease), Actinobacillus minor, Actinobacillus porcinus, Actinobacillus indolicus and Actinobacillus taxon C (Moller et al., 1996).

All of these species share a certain number of biochemical properties with A. pleuropneumoniae, hence rendering their identification somewhat difficult.

Specifications:

This kit allows the typing of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae in 4 groups:

* GI : Biovar 1 serovars 1-9-11

* GII : Biovar 1 serovars 5a-5b-10

* GIII : Biovar 1 serovars 2-4-7-8-12

* GIV : Biovar 1 serovars 3-4-6-7 and Biovar 2.