Etiopathology of femoral head necrosis with special reference to Escherichia coli in broilers

The present study was conducted to investigate the emerging pathology of femur head in colisepticemic broiler birds. A total of 75 broiler birds of age ranging 2–6 weeks from 15 different commercial broiler farms from in and around Anand district were necropsied. Swab and tissue samples were collected from different affected organs (liver, heart, spleen) including femur head surface and femur bone marrow for isolation and serotyping of Escherichia coli. The serotypes encountered in present study were O8, O88, O22, O11, O101, O119, O116, O20, O149, O1 and O87. Pathological findings included gross and histopathology of femoral head. Gross examination of femur head revealed dull and debrided condition of epiphyseal cartilage. In certain cases, femur head was easily breakable, leaving the epiphyseal cartilage in the acetabulum, during post-mortem examination. Histopathological examination of femur head revealed degenerated epiphyseal cartilage characterized by damaged chondrocytes and loss of normal tissue architecture. Other lesions included fibrinous perihepatitis, fibrinous pericarditis, deposition in the abdominal cavity.