EPIDEMIOLOGY OF INCLUSION-BODY HEPATITIS IN POULTRY IN NORTHERN INDIAFROM 1990 TO 1994

The epidemiology of inclusion body hepatitis (IBH) was studied in poul try in northern India, from April 1990 to March 1994, to evaluate the various factors responsible for causing and determining the severity o f the disease. Broiler chicks and Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix ja ponica) were the species examined. The factor observed to be most comm only associated with IBH was the presence of aflatoxins in the feed at higher than permissible levels, i.e. 20 parts per billion. Avian aden ovirus-1 was isolated from the livers of affected birds. In the final year of the study, a number of outbreaks of IBH caused heavy mortaliti es among three to five-week-old broiler chicks, which displayed typica l IBH lesions in addition to hydropericardium.