Infectious hydropericardium was reproduced experimentally in 28-day-old broiler chicks by inoculating 104.1 TCID50 of fowl adenovirus (FAY) serotype 4 isolate subcutaneously and orally. Subcutaneous route of inoculation caused early onset of clinical signs and higher mortality (83%) in comparison to the oral route in which the mortality was only SOOAt. Characteristic hydropericardium alongwith pale and swollen liver was observed in the affected birds of both the groups. The presence of FAV was confinned by observmg basophilic intranuclear inclusion bodies in the hepatocytes of all the dead birds. Histopathological studies of other organs revealed myocarditis, lymphoid depletion in bursa of Fabricius and spleen, haemorrhagic exudatein bronchioles and tubular degeneration in kidneys.
Infectious hydropeticardium, fowl adenovirus, broilers
