Incidence of hydropericardium hepatitis syndrome in broiler chickens of Mizoram, India

Abstract

A study was undertaken to survey the prevalence of viral diseases of poultry in Mizoram during March 2013 to February 2014. Out of 476 poultry carcasses examined, 208 (43.69%) cases were diagnosed as viral diseases. Twenty Four cases of hydropericardium hepatitis syndrome were diagnosed in broiler chickens based on the clinical history, gross and histopathology, which were found to affect the birds of 3–6 weeks of age (83.33%), while a few cases were seen in 6–9 weeks of age (16.66%) with morbidity and mortality rates of 3045% and 18–35% respectively. The maximum cases were found in summer followed by rainy and winter seasons. The affected birds were dull, depressed and showed a characteristic posture with their chest and beak resting on the ground and eyelids closed, while some had yellowish diarrhoea, dyspnoea, debilitation, ruffled feathers and were reluctant to move. The most characteristic gross lesions were accumulation of clear or straw-coloured, watery or jelly-like fluid in the pericardial sac, a misshapen and flabby heart. The liver was swollen, congested and friable with focal hepatic necrosis. Presence of basophilic intranuclear inclusion bodies was seen in the hepatocytes with degenerative changes. The heart sections revealed marked granular or vacuolar degeneration in myocardium. The disease was diagnosed on the basis of clinical signs, characteristic gross and microscopic tissue alterations.