Acute septicaemic pasteurellosis in Vietnamese pigs

Sixteen isolates of Pasteurella multocida were cultured from cases diagnosed as acute septicaemic pasteurellosis in Vietnamese pigs. The HSB–PCR assay provided rapid presumptive determination of 10 isolates of P. multocida identified as haemorrhagic septicaemia (HS) causing type B cultures (B:2, B:5, B:2,5). Serological designation using the Carter and Heddleston typing systems confirmed these findings, and identified the six HSB–PCR negative cultures as either A:1, A:3 or D:3,4. Biochemical fermentation and REP–PCR revealed phenotypic and genotypic identity between P. multocida type A:1 isolated from Vietnamese pigs and poultry. Marked homogeneity was also demonstrated among HSB–PCR positive swine isolates, which were shown to possess genotypic identity with P. multocida type B:2 from buffaloes diagnosed with HS.