Pathology and molecular characterization of inclusion body hepatitis-hydropericardium syndrome complicated with coccidiosis in broilers: A report

Inclusion body hepatitis (IBH) is a viral disease caused by Fowl adenovirus (FAdV) affecting poultry mainly, broilers. IBH has a worldwide distribution and is endemic in many states of India. Present investigation was carried out on a flock of 27 days old commercial broiler chickens from the Nagpur region with history of yellow mucoid to red diarrhea and an overall mortality of 25%. Grossly, liver revealed pale colour, friable with pinpoint to ecchymotic haemorrhages and necrotic foci. Microscopically, the liver revealed hepatic degeneration with intranuclear dense basophilic inclusion bodies, vacuolation, and rounding of hepatocytes and hemorrhages. The collected samples were screened for the hexon gene of fowl adenovirus through PCR. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the current FAdV is closely related to the strain isolated from Pantnagar, India.