Prevalence of colibacillosis in chicken presented for postmortem examination at Pathology Diagnostic Laboratory of COVAB, Makerere University

Abstract

Avian colibacillosis is one of the most prevalent diseases affecting poultry industry worldwide. The disease causes major economic repercussion on poultry production characterised by high mortalities and morbidities. There is limited information on the prevalence and the risk factors associated with colibacillosis in chicken presented for diagnosis at COVAB, and the good hygiene and disease preventive practices at farm level necessary for colibacillosis control has not been assessed. A cross sectional prospective study was carried out on 186 chickens to determine the prevalence and risk factors associated with colibacillosis among chicken submitted for disease diagnosis at Veterinary necropsy laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine animal resources and biosecurity (COVAB) Makerere University. Thorough post-mortem examination was conducted on all chicken presented for disease diagnosis following an established procedure. Gross lesions suggestive for colibacillosis were noted, tissue samples collected and submitted for bacteriology. A questionnaire was administered to the participants to assess the farmers’ day to day poultry management practices and their response were recorded. The study showed that the prevalence of colibacillosis was high (44.1%) among chickens presented for disease diagnosis at COVAB. The common forms of colibacillosis observed during the study were; coli-panophthalmitis, coli-airsacculitis, coli-septicaemia, salpingitis, salpingo-peritonitis, peritonitis, omphalitis, polyserositis, perihepatitis, coli-granuloma, cellulitis and arthritis. While the common risk factors associated with occurrence of colibacillosis at farm level included; practice of deep litter system (86.0%), keeping multiple batches of chicken in a farm (26.24%), taking long time to change litter, having previous illness (16.3%), failure to restrict access to poultry units to visitors (12.1%) and failure of visitors to change their wear (10.6%) in addition to failure of people to disinfect before entering the poultry housing. (7.8%). Colibacillosis is among the major hindrances to poultry production in Uganda and was more common among chickens kept on deep litter with limited biosecurity measures. Therefore there is need for farmers to improve on poultry health management practices.