Abstract
AIM: The study involved the evaluation of the bursa of fabricius in healthy and experimentally infected quails with infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). METHODS: One hundred and fifty days old quail chicks were obtained and divided into two groups. The Group B birds were inoculated with two drops of IBDV antigen while Group A were inoculated with two drops of phosphate buffered saline per os and kept for 14 weeks. Birds were weighed, sacrificed and dissected to remove the bursae on which morphometric and histological procedures were done. RESULTS: Infected bursae showed an initial increase in size which later decreased for a while before attaining a second peak. Histologically, the normal bursae showed the general plan of gastrointestinal tract structures with the lamina propria containing non capsulated lymphoid follicles, which varied in arrangement and number. The infected bursae revealed interfollicular edema, lymphocytolysis, haemorrhages, fibroplasia and keratinization of the bursal substances. CONCLUSION: This study could serve as a guide to poultry clinicians and pathologists in prompt diagnosis of infectious bursal disease in both clinical and subclinical states as well as advancing the knowledge of the bursa of Fabricius in normal and in abnormal states. KEY WORDS: Quail, Bursa of Fabricius, Gastrointestinal tract.
Highlights
Poultry industries have in recent years occupied a place of pride in the economy of many nations
The epithelia is the lamina propria, containing lymphoid follicles separated by connective tissue septae arising from the surrounding external muscularis, which contained smooth muscles (Plate II)
It was observed that during the first 7 weeks of the trials, bursal weight of the control birds had a sharp increase in their absolute weights and in their relative percentile increases as compared to the body weight. This is in agreement with those observed in chicken by Aire, (1973) and Riddel, (1987), where they stated that the bursa of fabricius grows rapidly in the young chicken and reaches a maximum size between 4 and 8 weeks of age
Summary
Poultry industries have in recent years occupied a place of pride in the economy of many nations. Japanese quails (Coturnix japonica) have been used as laboratory animals similar to rats and mice, and was introduced to Nigerian environment in 1992 to ameliorate the problem of animal protein inadequacy in Nigerian populace (Haruna et al, 1997). They are characterised with shorter generation interval and yield quick return on low investment (Sreeranjini et al, 2010). The economic losses resulting from infectious diseases such as infectious bursal disease (IBD) include mortalities and the immunosuppression
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