Clinical and Histopathological Investigations on Inclusion Body Hepatitis in Chickens in the Ain Touta Area (Algeria)

This study describes peculiar cases of inclusion body hepatitis (IBH) and the results of histopathological approaches aimed at better detailing this condition. IBH is an acute disease of young chickens caused by fowl adenoviruses (FAdVs). An outbreak of acute mortality affected a flock of 12000 animals. Affected chickens showed ruffled feathers, depression, watery droppings and some of them limping. The most common pathological lesions seen on necropsy were pale, swollen and friable livers with sub capsular hemorrhages. On histopathological examinations, acute hepatitis is characterized by hepatic necrosis, with large basophilic intranuclear inclusion bodies. The histopathological results were characteristic for IBH caused by adenovirus infection.