Articular lesion in experimental infeccion with avian reovirus in broiler (Gallus gallus)

Abstract

This paper describes articular lesions induced by inoculation of one-day-old broiler chicks with an avian reovirus strain (S-1133) by oral and foodpad routes. The hock joint of five birds from inoculated and control groups were collected in the periods of 24, 48, 72 hours and at weekly intervals from 1 to 8 weeks post inoculation for histopathological examination. The first inflammatory changes were seen in tendon sheaths one week post inoculation. On the second week postinoculation there were fibroplasia, formation of lymphoid follicles and sinovial membrane cells hyperplasia, progressive lesions seen until the end of experiment. The articular lesions were similar occurring simultaneously in both inoculated groups, nevertheless the lesions were more severe in the group inoculated via footpad.