Concurrent occurrence of colisepticaemia and ulcerative enteritis in Japanese quail breeder flock

Japanese quails have the potential to complement the obvious gap in the protein needs of people, necessitating means to improve their productivity and sustainability. To achieve this, one of the areas that need particular attention is diagnosis of common diseases and its control. Due to intensive production, Japanese quails are susceptible to various infectious and non-in- fectious diseases. Early diagnosis of these diseases is essential to minimize the economic losses associated with it. The present study was undertaken to elucidate the etiological agents and pathological manifestation in field cases of increased mortality in an intensively maintained Japanese quail breeder flock of 3000 birds of 35 week old during the month of August 2023. Necropsy examination conducted on fifteen dead birds and samples collected and subjected for bacteriological and pathological examination. Affected breeder quail flocks showed cumulative mortality of 21 per cent. Few of the affected birds showed the clinical signs of depression, anorexia, listlessness, partially closed eyes and huddled posture with ruffled feathers. Egg production was dropped gradually from 93 to 68 per cent. At necropsy, dead birds showed good body condition, fibrinous pericarditis, congestion of lungs, marked enlargement of spleen with mottled appearance and moderate dilatation of intestine with multiple greyish white foci. Microbiological examination in specific cultural media liver, spleen and intestinal contents revealed the presence of Clostridium colinum, whereas the heart blood and liver swab revealed the presence of Escherichia coli. The flock was successfully treated with levofloxacin, amoxicillin and cloxacillin based on the antibiotic sensitivity test. Microscopically, fibrinous pericarditis, myocardial degeneration in heart, vascular changes in lungs, mulifocal necrosis with infiltration of inflammatory cells in liver, lymphoid depletion and reticuloendothelial cell proliferation in spleen and coagulative necrosis with ulceration of intestinal epithelium were noticed.