Between May 2002 and May 2012, fowl adenovirus (FAdV) infections were diagnosed in 38 of 310 diseased Belgian broiler flocks. FAdV isolates were usually derived from pools of multiple organs, predominantly incorporating liver, pancreas and bursa. TheFAdV isolates belonged to the serotypes FAdV 1 (five strains), FAdV 2/11 (thirteen strains), FAdV 3 (one strain), FAdV 5 (eight strains) and FAdV 8a (four strains); seven isolates could not be typed with certainty. The clinical complaints in infected flocks consisted of poor growth, wet litter, respiratory disease and/or lameness in 63%, 37%, 26% and 24% of the cases, respectively. Increased mortality occurred in 39% of the flocks. In 53% of the infected farms, the clinical signs had been showing up inmultiple successive production cycles. The most consistent lesions were hepatitis, nephritis, myocarditis, pancreatitis, tracheitis and proventriculitis. Concurrent infections with reovirus, infectious bronchitis virus, avian metapneumovirus, infectiousbursal disease virus, chicken anemia virus, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus cecorum and/or Eimeria were observed in 53% of the flocks, predominantly in those that were experiencing increased mortality. It was concluded that fowl adenoviruses are frequently involved in disease of Belgian broilers, alone or in combination with other infectious agents.
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