Hepato-Nephropathy Associated with Aflatoxicosis Complicated with Inclusion Body Hepatitis in Broilers

Poultry continues to be one of the fastest growing segments of the agricultural sector in India today. However, this sector faces greater degree of economic losses due to mycotoxicosis. The present study investigated the aflatoxicosis complicated with inclusion body hepatitis. A total of 64 birds from 10 different broiler farms were presented for necropsy. The carcasses revealed large areas of cooked or parboiled appearance in the pectoral muscles. The liver showed diffuse swelling with multifocal, small to large, pale whitish necrotic stripes/patches. In many birds, liver appeared yellowish and fragile and in few cases, focal hemorrhages were also observed. Kidneys were diffusely swollen, necrotic and mottled. The cardiac muscles showed multifocal to diffuse whitish areas. Hydropericardium was recorded in carcasses from 2 flocks. The spleen was diffusely swollen, pale and focally congested. The histopathological examination of liver revealed moderate to severe multifocal round vacuoles in cytoplasm, multifocal areas of necrosis leading disruption of hepatic cord arrangement, individualization of hepatocytes and multifocal areas of infiltration predominantly by PMNs with a few MNCs. In 2 out of 10 flocks, the liver also revealed typical intranuclear inclusion bodies in addition to above changes. Kidneys showed mild to moderate degenerative and necrotic changes with tubular swelling, thickening of glomerular basement membranes and increased number of mesangial cells. The cardiac muscles exhibited interstitial infiltration. Spleen showed multifocal areas of lymphoid depletion and associated reticulo endothelial cell hyperplasia. Bursa of fabricius showed moderate to severe lymphoid depletion. DNA was extracted from liver and spleen samples and the conventional PCR targeting hexon gene specific for FAdV yielded expected product of 897 bp in 3 flocks. Toxicological analysis of feed samples confirmed the presence of toxic levels of aflatoxin (AFB1-181, 196 and 241 ppb, AFB2-15, 15 and 20 ppb) from 3 different farms including those 2 farms showing intranuclear inclusions in hepatocytes and PCR positivity for FAdV. The gross and histopathological lesions, toxicological analysis and PCR confirmed the occurrence of aflatoxicosis and IBH together.