Emergence of fowl aviadenovirus C-4 in a backyard chicken flock in California.

J Vet Diagn Invest

California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System, Davis Branch, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA, USA.

Published: July 2021

AI Article Synopsis

  • * In April 2020, FAdV4 was discovered in a backyard flock in California, leading to a mortality rate of 27% among the birds, with some showing no warning signs before death.
  • * Postmortem analyses revealed adenoviral infection in the affected chickens, with a unique finding of inclusion body hepatitis (IBH) without the typical hydropericardium symptom, marking a new occurrence of FAdV4 in the

Article Abstract

Fowl aviadenovirus (FAdV) species D and E are associated with inclusion body hepatitis (IBH); species C, serotype 4 (hereafter, FAdV4) is associated with hepatitis-hydropericardium syndrome (HHS) in young chickens. Outbreaks of HHS have led to significant losses in the poultry industry in several countries, predominantly in China. In April 2020, FAdV4 was detected in a remote backyard flock in California. In a mixed flock of chickens of various breeds and ages (6 mo to 2 y old), 7 of 30 were found dead within a week without premonitory signs. One additional bird died after the flock was relocated to fresh pasture, bringing the total mortality to 8 of 30 (27%). Postmortem examination of 3 birds revealed good body condition scores and active laying. One chicken had subtle hemorrhages throughout the liver, and the other 2 had diffusely dark mahogany livers. On histopathology, 2 chickens had hepatic necrosis with hepatocytes containing large, mostly basophilic, intranuclear inclusion bodies, identified by electron microscopy as 82.2-nm diameter adenoviral particles. Virus isolation and genomic sequencing performed on a liver sample revealed strains with 99.9% homology to FAdV4 isolates reported from China. To our knowledge, FAdV4 has not been reported in the United States to date. Furthermore, the chickens affected here were all adults and exhibited a variation of serotype 4 disease in which IBH was present but not hydropericardium.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8229832PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/10406387211019962DOI Listing

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