Twenty-five isolates of Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale were examined by agar gel precipitation, immunoperoxidase assay, sodium dodecyl sulfate - polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, western blot analysis, and a polymerase chain reaction. All of the isolates were identified as serotype A. Protein profiles of whole cell extracts were similar for all the isolates, and a polypeptide with a molecular weight of 33 kD was a major component, being present in all the isolates. In the main, proteins of 33, 42, 52, and 66 kD were recognized in immunoblots with sera from chickens naturally exposed to O. rhinotracheale. A modified polymerase chain reaction assay identified O. rhinotracheale DNA from all the isolates and tracheal swabs, producing amplicons of 784 bp, and distinguished O. rhinotracheale from bacterial agents causing similar clinical signs.