Alterations of Blood Components in Broiler Chicks Experimentally Infected with Salmonella Gallinarum

摘要

Salmonella Gallinarum is the agent of fowl typhoid in poultry causing significant economic lossesin poultry production. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of experimental infection ofone-day-old broiler chicks with locally isolated Salmonella Gallinarum strain (the cause of acute fowl typhoiddisease) on hematological and biochemical constituents. One hundred and forty broiler chicks -one day oldwererandomly divided into two groups. The first group (N=50) was kept as a normal control. It was inoculatedwith 0.2 ml of sterile saline through crop gavage. The second group (N=90) was infected with isolatedSalmonella Gallinarum strain at a dose 0.2 ml of sterile saline containing 3×10 CFU/ml through the same route. 8After inoculation, all experimental birds were kept under strict daily observation for recording clinical signs andmortality rates. Five blood samples were collected from each group at the zero time, 2 , 4 , 7 , 14 , 21 and the nd th th th st28 day post infection for determination of hematological and serum biochemical parameters. The infected group thshowed clinical signs (dullness, ruffled feathers, droppings, huddled together, white pasty diarrhea, loss ofappetite, decrease in feed intake and depression), mortality rate (24.4%), macrocytic hypochromic anaemia,leuckocytosis, heterophilia, significant hypoprotinemia, hypoalbuminemia, hypoglobulinemia and markeddecrease in the serum iron level, in addition to marked increase in the activities of aspartate aminotransferaseand alanin aminotransferase and the levels of creatinine and uric acid. In conclusion, the experimentalSalmonella Gallinarum infection induced acute anaemia, leukocytosis, heterophilia, lymphopenia and alterationin the liver and kidney functions.