Bacterial respiratory disease of poultry.

Bacterial pathogens play an important role in causing respiratory disease in domestic poultry species. In many cases, the bacterial component of a respiratory disease colonizes the respiratory system only after a primary viral or environmental insult. Colonization of the airsacs of a chicken by Escherichia coli following an infectious bronchitis virus infection is an example of secondary bacterial invasion. In other cases, the bacterial component of the respiratory disease is the primary initiating cause of the disease. Examples of primary bacterial respiratory disease are infectious coryza in chickens and fowl cholera in chickens and turkeys.