An Experimental Reproduction of Necrotic Enteritis in Broiler Chickens

Clostridium perfringens is the main causative agent of avian necrotic enteritis (NE), an enteric infectious disease considered among the most important diseases in the poultry industry. Currently, there are numerous reports of experimental reproduction of NE using different inoculation protocols along with various predisposing factors which produce highly variable results. These models represent a fraction of a wide range of farming conditions under which disease can develop. This work describes the experimental induction of C. perfringens NE in broiler chickens after a short feed withdrawal of 12 hours prior to bacterial challenge. Broiler chicks fed with commercial chick starter for 14 days post-hatch were afterwards offered feed mixed with C. perfringens twice a day for three consecutive days. On average, over 60% of challenged birds developed typical gross lesions. The results show that it is possible to reproduce the disease under conditions similar to those found in poultry farms which are not covered by other developed models. This model proved to be effective in the experimental reproduction of NE, allowing the evaluation of pathological parameters. L. M. Redondo1,2*, E. A. Redondo1,2, F. Delgado1, L. F. La Sala2,3 and M. E. Fernández Miyakawa1,2 1Instituto de Patobiología, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Calle Las Cabañas y Los Reseros s/n, Casilla de Correo 25 (1712), Castelar, Buenos Aires, Argentina 2Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Rivadavia 1917 (1033) Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina 3GEKKO, Grupo de Estudios en Conservación y Manejo, Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional del Sur, San Juan 670, 8000 Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, Argentina *Address for Correspondence L. M. Redondo, Instituto de Patobiología, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Calle Las Cabañas y Los Reseros s/n, Casilla de Correo 25 (1712), Castelar, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Fax: 0054-11-46210443; E-mail: [email protected] Submission: 20 January, 2016 Accepted: 11 March, 2016 Published: 15 March, 2016 Copyright: © 2016 Redondo LM, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Reviewed & Approved by: Dr. Huaguang Lu, Department of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Penn State University, USA Research Article Open Access Journal of Veterinary Science & Medicine