The USPOULTRY has requested preproposals to develop commercial diagnostic systems to detect and confirm Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale infection (ORT) in turkeys recognized as a significant detractor from production efficiency since 2016.
Since the infection is clinically similar to other respiratory infections, a rapid sensitive and specific diagnostic procedure is required. As a corollary to the request, isolation and characterization of ORT strains will be required as a precursor to developing vaccines.