Wildlife surveillance during a Mycoplasma gallisepticum epornitic in domestic turkeys.

During a major Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) epornitic in domestic turkeys, tracheal swabs were collected and cultured from 477 and 770 potentially exposed wild mammals and birds, respectively. All culture attempts were negative. Serum-plate (SP) and hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) tests on 770 bird sera revealed low titers (less than or equal to 1:40) in 0.9% of tested house sparrows, 1.1% of brown-headed cowbirds, 35.7% of common grackles, 1.0% of starlings, and 16.6% of eastern meadowlarks. Low titers are believed to have resulted from birds feeding on contaminated litter and becoming sensitized. Wildlife species did not appear to be involved in transmission or maintenance of MG but may have been mechanical carriers of this pathogen.