Diagnosis of avian tuberculosis in a poultry farm in Wassit province (Case report).

The study was aimed to investigate the pathological changes of avian tuberculosis in poultry farm in Wassit province in Iraq. A total of 5 layer hens (Lohmen brown breed) over six month old were reared in a large poultry farm. In a chronic state the farm over a year reported periodic losses of birds mostly of breeding hens. From those affected birds with the chronic condition a fifty birds were selected and sacrificed for PM and histopathological examinations. The main pathological changes were found in the intestine, which include, the villi of small intestine looks like thickened, corrugated, and filled with macrophages, a granulomatous inflammatory reaction was the main lesion in the small intestine while the large intestine (ceci) found with dilated mucus glands with macrophages in lamina propria. Secondary reactions were seen in liver, heart, and kidney. In the liver the lesions were congestion of blood vessels, periportal fibrosis, and bile duct proliferation. In heart a mass of aggregation of lymphocytes were found. The kidney of infected chickens showed dilated cortical tubules and mononuclear cell in cortical stroma. Through the study's conclusion that the field has been contaminated and infected with the germ of avian tuberculosis.