This study was conducted to determine the distribution patterns and duration of stay of Toxocara cati larvae in organs of chickens and to investigate chronic phase and potential zoonotic risk of toxocariasis in chickens. Chickens were orally infected with 1,000 embryonated T. cati eggs and necropsied 240 days post-infection. Organs of the chickens were examined at gross and microscopic levels; tissues were digested to recover larvae. Peribronchiolitis with infiltration of lymphocytes, and hyperplasia of bronchiolar associated lymphatic tissues (BALT) and goblet cells, were evident in the lungs of infected chickens. There were mild hemorrhages and infiltration of lymphocytes and a few eosinophils in the meninges. Larvae were recovered from 30% of the exposed chickens. Larvae recovery indicated that T. cati larvae stay alive for at least 240 days in the chicken brain. Therefore, chickens may potentially act as a paratenic host in nature and transfer T. cati larvae to other hosts.
Animals ; Brain/pathology ; Chickens ; Larva/physiology ; *Longevity ; Lung/pathology ; Poultry Diseases/*parasitology/*pathology ; Toxascariasis/pathology/*veterinary ; Toxocara/*pathogenicity/*physiology

One-day-old SPF chicks were inoculated with the Cux-l strain of chicken infectious anemia virus (CIAV), and the clinical development of disease and its macroscopic and microscopic alterations in the thymus and bone marrow, were observed. Tissue sections of thymus and bone marrow were stained using the streptavidin-biotin peroxidase method and examined under light microscope for evaluation of antigenic intensities in tissues. Those findings were then compared with blood parameters and ELISA results obtained through collected sera during sacrifice procedures. We sought to determine: the localization of viral antigens in thymus and bone marrow tissues after inoculation, the correlation between antigen intensities and hematologic, serologic and histopathologic findings, definitive diagnostic criteria using histopathologic and immunoperoxidase methods, and the reliability of these methods in the diagnosis of CIAV infection. For this purpose, 83, one-day-old SPF chicks were used. The birds were divided into experimental (n = 52) and control (n = 26) groups. A virus dose of TCID50 of 100,000/ml was administered intramuscularly to every bird in the experimental group. Based on the results of this study, we have suggested that clinical examination, along with macroscopic and microscopic evaluation of the thymus and bone marrow, maybe undertaken starting from day 7 post-inoculation (PI). ELISA, might be of value, as it might give consistent results starting from day 14 PI. However, the most reliable results were obtained through examination of thymus and bone marrow sections from infected birds stained by immunoperoxidase technique, as early as day 4 PI.
Animals ; Bone Marrow/*pathology ; *Chicken anemia virus ; Chickens ; Circoviridae Infections/pathology/*veterinary ; Immunoenzyme Techniques ; Poultry Diseases/*pathology ; Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms ; Thymus Gland/*pathology

During 2006, H5N1 HPAI caused an epizootic in wild birds, resulting in a die-off of Laridae in the Novosibirsk region at Chany Lake. In the present study, we infected common gulls (Larus canus) with a high dose of the H5N1 HPAI virus isolated from a common gull to determine if severe disease could be induced over the 28 day experimental period. Moderate clinical signs including diarrhea, conjunctivitis, respiratory distress and neurological signs were observed in virus-inoculated birds, and 50% died. The most common microscopic lesions observed were necrosis of the pancreas, mild encephalitis, mild myocarditis, liver parenchymal hemorrhages, lymphocytic hepatitis, parabronchi lumen hemorrhages and interstitial pneumonia. High viral titers were shed from the oropharyngeal route and virus was still detected in one bird at 25 days after infection. In the cloaca, the virus was detected sporadically in lower titers. The virus was transmitted to direct contact gulls. Thus, infected gulls can pose a significant risk of H5N1 HPAIV transmission to other wild migratory waterfowl and pose a risk to more susceptible poultry species. These findings have important implications regarding the mode of transmission and potential risks of H5N1 HPAI spread by gulls.
Animals ; Birds ; Charadriiformes* ; Cloaca ; Conjunctivitis ; Diarrhea ; Encephalitis ; Hemorrhage ; Hepatitis ; Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype* ; Lakes ; Liver ; Lung Diseases, Interstitial ; Myocarditis ; Necrosis ; Pancreas ; Pathology* ; Poultry ; Virulence

Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite with a broad range of intermediate hosts. Chickens as important food-producing animals can also serve as intermediate hosts. To date, experimental studies on the pathogenicity of T. gondii in broiler chickens were rarely reported. The objective of the present study was to compare the pathogenicity of 5 different T. gondii strains (RH, CN, JS, CAT2, and CAT3) from various host species origin in 10-day-old chickens. Each group of chickens was infected intraperitoneally with 5 x 10(8), 1 x 10(8), 1 x 10(7), and 1 x 10(6) tachyzoites of the 5 strains, respectively. The negative control group was mockly inoculated with PBS alone. After infection, clinical symptoms and rectal temperatures of all the chickens were checked daily. Dead chickens during acute phage of the infection were checked for T. gondii tachyzoites by microscope, while living cases were checked for T. gondii infection at day 53 post-inoculation (PI) by PCR method. Histopathological sections were used to observe the pathological changes in the dead chickens and the living animals at day 53 PI. No significant differences were found in survival periods, histopathological findings, and clinical symptoms among the chickens infected with the RH, CN, CAT2, and CAT3 strains. Histopathological findings and clinical symptoms of the JS (chicken origin) group were similar to the others. However, average survival times of infected chickens of the JS group inoculated with 5 x 10(8) and 1 x 10(8) tachyzoites were 30.0 and 188.4 hr, respectively, significantly shorter than those of the other 4 mammalian isolates. Chickens exposed to 10(8) of T. gondii tachyzoites and higher showed acute signs of toxoplasmosis, and the lesions were relatively more severe than those exposed to lower doses. The results indicated that the pathogenicity of JS strain was comparatively stronger to the chicken, and the pathogenicity was dose-dependent.
Animals ; Antibodies, Protozoan/blood ; Cat Diseases/parasitology ; Cats ; Chickens ; Poultry Diseases/blood/mortality/*parasitology/pathology ; Swine ; Swine Diseases/parasitology ; Toxoplasma/genetics/growth & development/*pathogenicity/physiology ; Toxoplasmosis, Animal/blood/mortality/*parasitology/pathology ; Virulence

Two strains of Avian leukosis virus subgroup B (ALV-B) were isolated for the first time in China Hy-line White on the cultured DF-1 cells which were inoculated tissue samples from by an ELISA assay, a histopathology examination and a PCR-based diagnosis. The results from the ELISA assay indicated that the positive rate of serum antibodies to ALV-B and ALV-J virus were 16.3% (15/92) and 13% (12/92), respectively. The histopathological examination indicated that two types of tumor cells existed at same focus in liver and spleen, which mainly were myelocytoma cells and lymphosarcoma cells. The PCR-based diagnosis were performed as follows: the cellular DNA was extracted from the inoculated DF-1 cells; the specific fragments of 1100 bp and 924 bp were obtained by a PCR system with the diagnostic primers of ALV-B and ALV-J; and the PCR results for ALV-A, MDV and REV were all negative. Then, the amplified fragments of the two ALV-B stains were partially sequenced and shown an identity of 92.8%,94.7% with the prototype strain of ALV-B (RSV Schmidt-ruppin B). The identities of two ALV-J strains with the prototype strain HPRS-103 at 96.9%, 91.5%; The identities of two ALV-J strains with the American prototype strain at 85.9%, 81.5%. Our study had shown that ALV-B was isolated for the first time from the ALV-J infected commercial layer flocks in China. It also indicated that the chance of genetic recombination among various subgroups of ALV was increased.
Animals ; Avian Leukosis ; pathology ; virology ; Avian Leukosis Virus ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Cell Line ; Chickens ; China ; Liver ; pathology ; virology ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Poultry Diseases ; pathology ; virology ; Spleen ; pathology ; virology

Cochlosoma sp. infection was identified in a single case among 60 stunted diarrheic native turkey poults, Meleagris galopavo. A large number of the flagellated parasites was found free or within the intervillous spaces of the jejunum, ileum and cecum. Moderate enteritis was associated with the parasites. In TEM studies of the parasagittal sections of the parasite, a prominent ventral sucker like disc and flagella emerging from an opening on the ventrodorsal surface of the pyriform uninuclear parasite were found. The morphological characteristics of this protozoan match with those described for Cochlosoma anatis. The parasite could be considered as an intestinal pathogenic protozoan causing stunting and diarrhea in turkeys in Iran.
Animals ; Cecum/parasitology/pathology ; Enteritis/diagnosis/parasitology/veterinary ; Ileum/parasitology/pathology ; Iran ; Jejunum/parasitology/pathology ; Organelles/ultrastructure ; Poultry Diseases/*diagnosis/*parasitology ; Protozoan Infections, Animal/*diagnosis/*parasitology ; Trichomonadida/cytology/*isolation & purification ; Turkeys

The present study was undertaken to determine the viability and infectivity of oocysts of Cryptosporidium baileyi that had been stored from 1 to 40 months at 4 degrees C preserved in 2.5% potassium dichromate solution. Oocysts of C. baileyi were purified from the feces of experimentally infected chickens using discontinuous sucrose gradients. Subsequently, the purified oocysts were suspended in 2.5% potassium dichromate solution at a concentration of 1 x 10 (7) organism/ml, and their viabilities were assessed by nucleic acid staining, histologic examination, and infectivity to 2-day-old chickens. All chickens inoculated with oocysts that had been stored for 1-18 months developed patent infections, while chickens infected with older oocysts remained uninfected. Between 5.8% and 82.2% of the oocysts, stored at 4 degrees C in 2.5% potassium dichromate solution, were found to be viable, as determined by nucleic acid staining. Parasite colonization in the bursa of Fabricius was detected in the microvillus border of bursal epithelium. The finding that C. baileyi oocysts remain infective to chickens for at least 18 months offers important time-saving advantages to investigators who frequently require large numbers of oocysts.
Animals ; Bursa of Fabricius/parasitology ; Chickens/*parasitology ; Coloring Agents ; Cryptosporidiosis/parasitology/pathology/*veterinary ; Cryptosporidium/drug effects/*growth & development/pathogenicity ; Feces/parasitology ; Oocysts/drug effects/*growth & development/pathogenicity ; *Organic Chemicals ; *Potassium Dichromate/pharmacology ; Poultry Diseases/parasitology/pathology ; Preservation, Biological/*methods ; Staining and Labeling

Seasonal outbreaks of airsacculitis in China's poultry cause great economic losses annually. This study tried to unveil the potential role of Avian metapneumovirus (AMPV), Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale (ORT) and Chlamydia psittaci (CPS) in avian airsacculitis. A serological investigation of 673 breeder chickens and a case-controlled study of 430 birds were undertaken. Results showed that infection with AMPV, ORT, and CPS was highly associated with the disease. The correlation between AMPV and CPS were positively robust in both layers and broilers. Finally, we determined the co-infection with AMPV, ORT, and CPS was prevalent in the sampled poultry farms suffering from respiratory diseases and the outbreak of airsacculitis was closely related to simultaneous exposure to all three agents.
Air Sacs ; microbiology ; pathology ; Animals ; Antibodies, Bacterial ; blood ; Antibodies, Viral ; blood ; Case-Control Studies ; Chickens ; Chlamydia ; Chlamydia Infections ; microbiology ; pathology ; veterinary ; Coinfection ; Flavobacteriaceae Infections ; microbiology ; pathology ; veterinary ; Humans ; Metapneumovirus ; Ornithobacterium ; Paramyxoviridae Infections ; pathology ; veterinary ; virology ; Poultry Diseases ; microbiology ; pathology ; virology ; Respiratory Tract Diseases ; microbiology ; veterinary ; virology ; Seroepidemiologic Studies

A molecular study of intestinal samples from 21 broiler flocks with a history of enteritis revealed that 23.8% and 14.3% were positive for chicken astrovirus (CAstV) and avian rotavirus (ARV), respectively. CAstV and group A ARV were simultaneously detected in only one broiler flock. Birds in this group developed the significant intestinal lesions characterized by frothy contents, paleness, and thin intestinal walls. In this report we present an unusual case of runting stunting syndrome (RSS) with a history of high mortality and growth retardation in broiler chickens. We also make the first identification of CAstV and group A ARV in broiler chickens in Korea.
Animals ; Astroviridae Infections/diagnosis/epidemiology/*veterinary/virology ; Avastrovirus/classification/*genetics/isolation & purification/metabolism ; *Chickens/growth & development ; Enteritis/diagnosis/pathology/veterinary/virology ; Intestines/pathology/virology ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Poultry Diseases/*diagnosis/epidemiology/virology ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Rotavirus/classification/*genetics/isolation & purification/metabolism ; Rotavirus Infections/diagnosis/epidemiology/*veterinary/virology