Pathological attributes of naturally occurring salmonellosis in broilers reared in Ganderbal district of Kashmir: A series of case study

Abstract

A survey on naturally occurring cases of Salmonellosis was carried out in various commercial broiler farms of Ganderbal District of Kashmir. During this period, 10 outbreaks were documented with clinical signs commonly observed included ruffled feathers, crowding near heat or light sources, loss of appetite, increased water intake, reluctance to move, pasting of the vent, diarrhoea, prostration, stunted growth and occasionally lameness. The gross pathological changes were characterized by hepatomegaly with bronze discoloration, splenomegaly, congestion and necrotic foci in the liver with greyish-white nodules on the heart. The Pulmonary lesions include congestion, haemorrhage and oedematous changes while the bursa of Fabricius was atrophied and the caeca contained firm caecal cores. The histopathological alterations were mainly observed in the liver, spleen, heart, kidney and bursa. The liver and spleen showed congestion, haemorrhages, necrotic areas, reticuloendothelial hyperplasia and infiltration by mononuclear cells and heterophils. The heart tissue section revealed congestion, infiltration of inflammatory cells, muscle fibre atrophy and necrosis. Both the spleen and bursa exhibited lymphocyte depletion. The intestinal changes were marked by congestion of mucosal vessels, goblet cell hyperplasia and infiltration of heterophils and mononuclear cells in the lamina propria of villi.