Diagnosis of Clostridium perfringens infection (Necrotic enteritis) in a flock of Giriraja birds

Abstract

Necrotic enteritis is the bacterial disease of the intestinal tract of chicken caused by caused by Clostridium perfringens, type A and C. The present study was done in the backyard chicken, presented to the veterinary dispensary, Jeelakarragudem, West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh. A poultry farmer brought 2 Giriraja birds for the necropsy and with a history of mortality of 5-week-old birds @ one bird per day for 3 days continuously in a flock of 50 birds without showing any obvious clinical signs except for off feed and listlessness. Upon necropsy, the lesions found were ballooning of small intestines, turkish towel like appearance of the mucosa of the small intestine, distended caecum with blood-tinged contents and liver with foci of necrosis. The impression smears taken from cut portions of liver and intestines showed violet-coloured gram-positive rod-shaped organisms with Grams stain. With spore stain, greenish spores and brownish red to pink vegetative forms were observed. Conclusively, the organism is presumably diagnosed as Clostridium species and the disease as Necrotic enteritis.