An outbreak of gangrenous dermatitis in commercial broiler chickens.
The present report describes an outbreak of gangrenous dermatitis (GD) infection in a commercial poultry farm in Delaware involving 34-day-old broiler chickens. In addition to obvious clinical signs, some GD-affected broilers also showed severe fibrino-necrotic enteritis and large numbers of Gram-positive rods in the necrotic tissue. Histopathological findings included haemorrhage, degeneration and necrosis of parenchymatous cells, especially of skin, muscle, and intestine. Immunofluorescence staining revealed Clostridium-like bacilli in the skin and the intestine. Both Clostridium perfringens and Clostridium septicum genomic sequences were identified by polymerase chain reaction in bacterial cultures isolated from the skin, muscle, and intestine, and in the frozen tissues from the GD-affected birds. Serological analysis demonstrated that both affected and clinically healthy birds from the same house had high serum antibody titres against C. perfringens, C. septicum, Eimeria, chick anaemia virus, and infectious bursal disease virus. These results are discussed in the context of the relationship between the different Clostridium spp. and the pathogenesis of GD.
Li
Guangxing
G
Animal and Natural Resources Institute, USDA-ARS, Beltsville, MD, USA.
Lillehoj
Hyun S
HS
Lee
Kyung Woo
KW
Jang
Seung I
SI
Marc
Pages
P
Gay
Cyril G
CG
Ritter
G Donald
GD
Bautista
Daniel A
DA
Phillips
Kathy
K
Neumann
Anthony P
AP
Rehberger
Thomas G
TG
Siragusa
Gregory R
GR
D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D002645:Chickens; D003013:Clostridium / Q000235:genetics*; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D003691:Delaware / Q000453:epidemiology; D003872:Dermatitis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000662:veterinary*; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D005734:Gangrene / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology*
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D017931:DNA Primers