Sampling occurred between 2007 and 2013 from
flocks of postweaned
rabbits (40-65 days aged) submitted to our laboratory for
routine disease diagnosis. The enrolment of the
flocks to this study
was by convenience to the scope of sampling once the higher
sample size of industrial holdings. For the purposes of this work an
industrial rabbit holding is an herd with automatic feeding and at
least 500 does hosted in metal cages. Between three to
five animals
per rabbit
flock were examined for gross lesions and the intestinal
content was collected at the cecum level which is the intestinal
tract mainly affected in rabbit bacterial enteritis. Sampling was
irrespective of the health status of single animals, but most of
rabbits were affected by enteric disorders and few by respiratory or
reproductive problems.