title: Adenoviral gizzard erosion in broiler chickens in Germany.
abstract: Avian adenovirus infections cause important disease complexes in chickens, but many of the viruses also infect chickens without resulting in overt disease. Previously several outbreaks of gizzard erosions caused by a fowl adenovirus A serotype-1 (FAdV-1) were reported from Japan. Here we report an outbreak of gizzard erosions in 12 broiler flocks in Germany in 2011. Chickens had a reduced daily weight gain and a higher total mortality rate of up to 8%. The birds showed a severe detachment of the koilin layer and ulcerative to necrotizing lesions of the underlying mucosa. Histopathologically, necrotizing ventriculitis with basophilic, intranuclear inclusion bodies in epithelial cells was diagnosed. Immunohistochemistry, egg culture, and electron microscopic examination revealed adenovirus-like particles in the samples. No concurrent infectious agent could be identified. The virus was genotyped as FAdV-1 by PCR and subsequent sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis of the hexon loop L1 gene yielded 100% sequence identity to the chicken embryo lethal orphan strain. These findings suggest that outbreaks of adenoviral gizzard erosion can lead to significant economic losses in Germany and may be caused by an unusual virulent FAdV-1 strain.
authors.affiliation: Bavarian Animal Health Service, Senator-Gerauer-Str. 23, 85586 Poing, Germany.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schade
authors.forename: Ferdinand
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schmitt
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Böhm
authors.forename: Michaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alex
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fux
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cattoli
authors.forename: Calogero
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Terregino
authors.forename: Isabella
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Monne
authors.forename: Richard J W
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Currie
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Olias
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002645:Chickens; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000662:veterinary*; D025681:Fowl adenovirus A / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D060005:Genotyping Techniques / Q000662:veterinary; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D005895:Gizzard, Avian / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission / Q000662:veterinary; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000662:veterinary; D013272:Stomach Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D015430:Weight Gain
chemical_list: D036022:Capsid Proteins; C018315:hexon capsid protein, Adenovirus