Abstract
Pneumonia has frequently been identified as an important mortality factor in fattening sheep populations in Egypt. Resulting poor sheep survival and low selection rates and fatalities in adults may insistently affect population designs. Pasteurella species are the most frequently isolated pathogens. In spite of P. multocida is not customarily connected with ailment in fattening sheep, high recovery of P. multocida was detected during the winter of 2016-2017. The overall recovery rate of P. multocida was (13%) of examined samples, with isolation percent from nasal cavities of apparently healthy animals (9.3%), while diseased animals were (12.0%) and (15.3%) from pneumonic lungs of emergency slaughtered animals. Two non-culturable methods were applied for direct detection of P. multocida. The highest detection rate (33.3%) of P. multocida was explored by direct PCR on preselective broth in comparison to other two methods. The most prevalent capsule biosynthesis gene among clinical samples examined was capA (57.0%) followed by capB (26.0%) and both types capA & capB (17.0%) In conclusion, P. multocida serogroup A represent one of major cause associated with epizootic pneumonia in fattening sheep in Egypt.