Clinical picture, haematological parameters and pathomorphological findings in fattening chickens after application of a lethal quantity of 32P

Due to its quality and relatively low price as a result of a simple and short production cycle, poultry meat occupies a very high position in the consumption of foodstuffs of animal origin. It is just because of such simple and rapid production that, under the circumstances of larger-scale radioactive contamination, poultry meat might become the main source of protein of animal origin. This fact, as well as the fact that no investigation into the effects of radioactive phosphorus (32 P) on fattening chickens has been conducted so far, induced us to investigate the impact of a lethal quantity of this isotope on chickens at slaughter age. The investigation was performed on chickens, hybrids of the Jata heavy breeds of both sexes, aged 50 days and with a mass ranging from 1500 to 2000 g. The experiment was based on the application of radioactive phosphorus 32 P at 333 MBq/kg of body mass. Test animals were clinically examined, blood samples were taken for haematological analysis and, immediately after death, dissection and pathohistological examination were performed. Based on the obtained results it was concluded that radioactive phosphorus 32 P, when applied to 50-day-old chickens of the Jata heavy breed at 333 MBq/kg of body mass, causes: 1) anaemia, manifested by a decrease in erythrocyte count on the 5th day and decreased and haematocrit values 7 days post-contamination; 2) leukopoenia, in a decrease in lymphocyte count on the 1 st day; decreased eosinophil count on the 3 rd day, and decreased heterophil count 5 days post-contamination; 3) thrombocytopoenia, on the 5 th day post-contamination; 4) onset of clinical signs of radiation sickness on the 6 th day, and death of all contaminated animals on the 9 th and 10 th days post-contamination contamination. Pathoanatomic examination of dead animals revealed dotted bleeding sites on heart and mucous membrane of digestive tract, as well as changes in parenchymal organs. Pathohistological examination of tissues and organs confirmed the findings of pathoanatomic examinations, which indicated the changes caused by radioactive radiation.