Abstract: Klebsiella pneumoniae infection in rabbits often causes multiple respiratory diseases and digestive system diseases, which seriously harms the healthy breeding of rabbits. In this study, the suspected dead rabbits in a rabbit farm in Henan Province were dissected and the tissues were collected. The pathogenic bacteria were isolated and identified by morphological observation, PCR identification and sequencing analysis, and the pathogenic bacteria were identified and analyzed by virulence gene detection, histopathological observation, drug sensitivity test and pathogenicity test. The results showed that gram-negative and oval suspicious pathogens were obtained by bacterial isolation and culture. The length of amplified fragment of 16S rRNA gene was 1 494 bp, and the homology with ON925022.1 was 99.79%, which indicated that the diseased rabbits were infected by Klebsiella pneumoniae. Histopathological observation showed that most organs of the diseased rabbits were swollen and bleeding, and a large number of inflammatory cells infiltrated into the alveolar wall, and the intestinal villi mucosa epithelium fell off. Virulence gene amplification showed that allS, kfu and uge genes were positive. The results of drug sensitivity test showed that the pathogen was sensitive to amikacin, polymyxin B, cefoperazone and ceftriaxone, and was resistant to other drugs at varying degrees. To sum up, Klebsiella pneumoniae is the pathogen causing the disease in this rabbit farm, and the current experiment provides reference for better prevention and control of Klebsiella pneumoniae in rabbits.

Key words: rabbit, Klebsiella pneumoniae, histopathology, virulence gene, drug resistance, respiratory diseases