EFFECT OF INDUCED MOLTING ON THE SEVERITY OF INTESTINAL LESIONS CAUSED BY SALMONELLA-ENTERITIDIS INFECTION IN CHICKENS

A study was conducted to describe the intestinal lesions caused by Sal monella enteritidis infection in 20-, 40-, and 74-week-old white legho rn chickens that were undergoing a feed deprivation-induced molt. The chickens were infected on the fourth day after feed was removed. At 4 days postinfection (8 days of feed deprivation), cecal and cecal tonsi l inflammation was significantly greater in molted infected chickens t han in unmolted infected chickens. The cecal lamina propria and epithe lium of molted infected chickens contained heterophilic infiltrates, a nd there were heterophils and sloughed epithelial cells in cecal lumin a. Colonic inflammation, consisting of heterophils infiltrating lamina propria and epithelium, occurred more often in molted infected chicke ns than in unmolted infected chickens. Immunoperoxidase staining of in testinal sections from 20-and 40-week-old chickens revealed S. enterit idis antigen in the lamina propria of cecum, cecal tonsil, and occasio nally the colon of molted infected chickens. The character of the S. e nteritidis-induced intestinal lesions associated with molting was simi lar for different ages of birds.