Diagnosis of avian chlamydiosis: specificity of the modified Giménez staining on smears and comparison of the sensitivity of isolation in eggs and three different cell cultures

Abstract

For the diagnosis of chlamydiosis in dead and live birds different methods were compared for their sensitivity and specificity. The specificity of the modified Giménez staining and the direct immunofluorescence (DIF) test for direct demonstration of Chlamydia psittaci in organ, cloacal and/or conjunctival smears was examined. The sensitivity of the isolation of Chlamydia psittaci in 6 days embryonated specific pathogen free (SPF) chicken eggs, Buffalo Green Monkey (BGM) cell line, McCoy cell line and Vero cell line was compared. On smears, the direct immunofluorescence test was more specific than the modified Giménez staining. The concordance between the results of both detection methods was 80%. The BGM cell culture was the most sensitive artificial host for isolation of Chlamydia psittaci, followed by the embryonated eggs, the Vero cell line and the McCoy cell line. The concordance between the results of isolation in BGM cell culture and eggs was 96.5%, while it was 86% between the results of isolation in BGM cell culture and Vero cell culture and only 65.5% between the results of isolation in BGM cell culture and McCoy cell culture. For dead bird species, chlamydiosis could be diagnosed more often using DIF on smears than with isolation. The concordance between the results of the DIF on smears and isolation followed by DIF was 91%.