BioOne.org will be down briefly for maintenance on 17 December 2024 between 18:00-22:00 Pacific Time US. We apologize for any inconvenience.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 December 2006 Inclusion Body Hepatitis as a Primary Disease in Broilers in Saskatchewan, Canada
Susantha Gomis, Robert Goodhope, Davor Ojkic, Philip Willson
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

In recent years inclusion body hepatitis (IBH) has emerged as an economically important disease in Western Canada. Historically, infections with infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) and chicken anemia virus (CAV) have been known to suppress the immune system of broilers and make them more susceptible to a secondary disease such as IBH. Recently it has been reported that virulent adenoviruses are able to cause IBH as a primary disease in broilers without apparent involvement of IBDV and CAV. The objectives of this study were to examine the possible association of IBH with IBDV and CAV infections in Western Canada and to identify adenoviruses involved in outbreaks. Serum samples from 17 broiler-breeder flocks and their progeny were collected when broilers were hatched and then again from broilers at the time of slaughter, and these samples were tested for IBDV and CAV antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Based on the ELISA titers the antibody response to vaccination against IBDV and CAV was at an expected level in all broiler flocks. Therefore, IBH outbreaks in these flocks were not due to inadequate levels of antibodies against IBDV and CAV. Moreover, there was no correlation found between occurrences of IBH outbreaks in broilers and their IBDV or CAV titers at the time of processing. Viruses that were isolated from livers of birds suffering from IBH could be classified into four different genotypes. Their hexon gene loop 1 sequences showed high percentages of identity to FAdV-7, FAdV-8a, FAdV-8b, and FAdV-11. The results of this study could not demonstrate an association of IBH with IBDV and CAV infections, but they supported the hypothesis that IBH in broilers in Western Canada is a primary disease with no apparent immunosuppressive involvement.

Susantha Gomis, Robert Goodhope, Davor Ojkic, and Philip Willson "Inclusion Body Hepatitis as a Primary Disease in Broilers in Saskatchewan, Canada," Avian Diseases 50(4), 550-555, (1 December 2006). https://doi.org/10.1637/7577-040106R.1
Received: 1 April 2006; Accepted: 1 July 2006; Published: 1 December 2006
KEYWORDS
broiler
broiler-breeder
chicken anemia virus
inclusion body hepatitis
infectious bursal disease
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top