Postmortem Findings in Various Poultry Diseases:
Shruti Shaurya
M.V.Sc. Scholar, Division of Medicine, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh-243122.
The poultry industry plays a vital role in providing a steady supply of meat and eggs for human consumption. However, the industry faces numerous challenges in maintaining the health and well-being of poultry flocks. Understanding and diagnosing poultry diseases are essential for effective disease management and prevention. Post-mortem examinations, also known as necropsies, serve as invaluable tools in unveiling the underlying causes of poultry mortality. Poultry diseases can have a significant economic impact on industry, leading to reduced productivity, increased mortality rates, and compromised product quality. Post-mortem examinations provide a systematic and thorough approach to investigate the causes of mortality within a flock. These examinations not only help in identifying the specific disease responsible for the losses but also contribute to the development of targeted prevention and control strategies. In this comprehensive discussion, we will explore the post-mortem findings associated with various poultry diseases, shedding light on the distinctive pathological features that aid in the identification and management of these ailments.
GENERAL BODY CONDITION
- Wasting / Desiccation: Reduced feed intake; nutritional insufficiencies; enteritis; tuberculosis, etc.
- Paralysis: Botulism; Marek’s disease; arthritis; aflatoxin poisoning; epidemic tremor
FEATHERS
- Moisture beneath wings: Infectious coryza
- Feather loss: Molting; Lice; nutritional deficiency – methionine
- Deposits at the base of shafts: Lice or mite eggs
SKIN
- Nodules, predominantly on legs: Marek’s disease
- Nodules over the vent: Flukes (rare)
- Damp, necrotic, edematous: Necrotic dermatitis; exudative diathesis
- Darkened, purplish: Erysipelas; fowl cholera
- Crusted areas: Erysipelas; scab; gangrenous dermatitis
- Gangrenous, green: Hemorrhage; arthritis; gangrenous dermatitis
- Irritated vent: Northern fowl mite; lice (occasionally)
- Pallor: Anemia; nutritional deficiencies – iron, copper, vitamin B12
HEAD
- Swollen, puffy: Infectious coryza; injury; Newcastle disease
COMB
- Mottled, red and white margins: Frozen
- Eruptions, nodules: Fowl pox
- White, scaly, powdery: Favus
EYES
- Watery: Infectious coryza
- Blindness: Fowl pox; aspergillosis; Arizona Paracolon; paratyphoid
- Watery, red, inflamed, closed: Laryngotracheitis; ammonia burn; Newcastle disease; nutritional deficiency – vitamin A
- Cataracts: Epidemic tremor
- Crusts on eyelids: Nutritional deficiency – vitamin A; fowl pox
- Irregular pupil, blindness: Marek’s disease
SUBCUTANEOUS TISSUE
- Small-sized nodules: Subcutaneous mite (rare)
- Excess fluid: Salt poisoning; edema; exudative diathesis anemia
- Air under the skin: Ruptured air sac; injury or infection of the skin
MUSCLES
- Cooked: Septicaemia, improper bleeding
- Haemorrhages: Haemorrhagic anaemia; erysipelas; crotolaria; mycotoxicosis; inclusion body hepatitis; injury; infectious bursal disease
- Dehydration: Coccidiosis
- Tumors: Marek’s disease
RIBS
- Beaded, crooked, nodular: Rickets (vitamin D, calcium, or phosphorus deficiency)
LEGS
- Bending of bones: Nutritional deficiency – vitamin D
- Thickened, enlarged bones: Lymphoid leukosis (osteopetrosis); tenosynovitis; nutritional deficiency – zinc
- Swelling in joints: Infectious synovitis; paratyphoid; pullorum; nutritional deficiency – zinc; staphylococcosis; tenosynovitis; arthritis
- Displacement of tendon at the hock: Perosis (nutritional deficiency – choline or manganese)
INTERNAL EXAMINATION
TRACHEA
- Free blood or cheese-like linings: Newcastle disease
- Mucus with some blood: Chronic respiratory disease
- Wart-like bodies, upper part: Fowl pox
- Inflamed: Adeno virus infection
AIR SAC
- Foamy, thickened, purulent: Collibacillosis; chronic respiratory disease; newcastle disease; infectious bronchitis; Fowl cholera
- Nodular: Aspergillosis; Air-sac mite(rare); Air-sac disease; Infectious coryza
- Cloudy: Laryngotracheitis; influenza; newcastle disease
LUNGS
- Yellow nodules: Aspergillosis
- Consolidated: Pneumonia
CROP
- White cheese-like growth: Moniliasis (fungus infection)
- Dry or slightly moist feed: Acute lack of water (dehydration)
- Distended with fluid: Crop impaction; feather eating
- Lining thickened: Capillaria
PROVENTRICULUS
- Edematous: Necrotic enteritis
- Hemorrhagic: Newcastle disease; spirochaetosis; avian influenza
GIZZARD
- Excess fiber, grit, litter, etc.: Impaction
- Erosion of lining: Nonspecific enteritis; necrotic enteritis; hemorrhagic anemia; normal in very young bird, fish meal.
- Muscle degenerated: Selenium deficiency
- Lining will not peel: Necrotic enteritis
INTESTINE
- Elongated, white worms: Ascarids
- Thickened wall, mucus: Capillaria worms
- Pinpoint hemorrhages: Coccidiosis; agonal hemorrhages
- Blotchy hemorrhages: Hemorrhagic anemia; clostridia
- Red and white dots: Necatrix coccidiosis
- Ulcers: Ulcerative enteritis
- Collapsed, glue-like contents: Heat stroke; acute lack of water
- Bloody: Hemorrhagic enteritis (turkeys); necatrix coccidiosis; Newcastle disease
- Mall white bodies: Acervulina coccidiosis
- Green contents: Low feed intake and bile not diluted
- Duodenum red and velvety: Generally normal
- Thick, swollen, and hemorrhage: Coccidiosis; enteritis
- Turkish towel effect, brown: Necrotic enteritis; coccidiosis
CAECA
- Blood or hard cores: Caecal coccidiosis
- Thickened, ulcerated, enlarged cores: Blackhead
- Excess fluid: Blue comb disease (poults)
- Short, threadlike organism: Caecal worms
- White cores: Coccidiosis; blackhead, Salmonellosis
- Ulcers: Ulcerative enteritis
OVARY
- Egg follicles hard shrunken: Pullorum; typhoid; unknown
- Broken egg yolks: Bluecomb disease, fowl cholera
- Cauliflower-like growth: Marek’s disease
BURSA
- Markedly enlarged: Infectious bursal disease
HEART
- Thickened, fibrinous, yellowish: Chronic respiratory disease; fowl cholera; colibacillosis
- Fluid in heart sac: Anemia; hemorrhagic anemia; aflatoxin; other poisonings
- Hemorrhages: Fowl cholera; typhoid erysipelas hemorrhagic anemia
- Heart enlarged: Round heart disease; ascites
LIVER
- Fibrin on surface: Chronic respiratory disease; fowl cholera; colibacillosis
- Necrosis with mottling: Vibronic hepatitis; blackhead; inclusion body hepatitis
- White or yellow spots: Fowl cholera; pullorum; ulcerative enteritis; adenovirus infection
- Swollen, darkened: Fowl cholera; typhoid; erysipelas; septicemia, toxemia; inclusion body hepatitis
- Yellowish, sandy nodules: Tuberculosis
- Enlarged with or without nodules: Marek’s disease; lymphoid leukosis
- Round, depressed ulcers: Blackhead
- Green: Staphylococcosis; blockage of bile
- Yellow: Fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome; normal storage; aflatoxicosis
KIDNEY
- Swollen, urate deposits: Infectious bronchitis (Holte or Grey strain); infectious bursal disease; nephrosis
- Sacs filled with fluid: Cysts (not infection)
- Mottled: Nephrosis; infectious bronchitis (Holte or Grey strain)
BODY CAVITY
- Excess of fat: Fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome; management problems; aflatoxins; excess dietary energy
- Large blood clot: Aortic rupture; fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome
- Straw-colored fluid: Ascites (not a disease, but often associated with diseases such as lymphoid leucosis).
- Milky fluid: Peritonitis
The nuanced art of deciphering post-mortem findings in poultry demands a keen understanding of the intricate interplay between external and internal indicators. Each feather, organ, and bodily fluid serves as a chapter in the narrative of avian health, urging poultry veterinarians and researchers to unravel the complex tales that lie within. As we navigate this diagnostic odyssey, the culmination of these findings not only aids in precise disease identification but also paves the way for informed health management, disease prevention, and the overall well-being of poultry flocks worldwide.
