Accelerated Postmortem Diagnostic Techniques and Cause Specific Mortality Rates in Domestic Fowl

Abstract

Routine post-mortem examination coupled with simple laboratory diagnostic tests appears to be an acceptable and relatively cheap way of diagnosing poultry diseases under field conditions. Cytological, histopathological and bacteriological techniques could be useful as long as common staining reagents and a light microscope are available. Some viral bacterial and protozoan infections which normally cause alarming mortalities in chicken were provisionally diagnosed by typical gross post-mortem findings and the diagnosis was confirmed or supported by histopathology and cytological findings. Weather, housing, population and nutrition are known to influence the pattern of occurrence of infectious diseases in the flocks but were not assessed in this study. Internal parasitism seemed to be a common problem all the year round and occurred alone or secondary to other disease. The incidence of the infectious diseases was found to be coccidiosis 16%, Newcastle disease l4%, visceral gout 10%, colibacillosis 6.4%, salmonellosis 6%, infectious bursal disease 5.5%, egg peritonitis 5.5%, anaemia due to various causes 4% and yolk sac infection 3.8%. About 11% of the cases were considered nonspecific implying that no major diagnosis or cause of death could be determined at least by the methods used. Other causes of death occurred in relatively lower magnitudes all of which constituted about 11% of the cases.