Epidemiology of enteritis in broiler chickens in the state of Haryana and its association with different meteorological parameters.

Enteritis in poultry is a major syndrome caused by different infections and etiology. The present work was carried out to study the epidemiology of enteritis in broiler chickens during the period from April 2008 to March 2010. During this period, a total of 481 cases of enteritis were recorded in broiler chickens. Though the disease was recorded consistently, the number of cases was more in rainy and winter seasons. The highest percent prevalence of enteritis was in rainy and winter seasons and was significantly positively correlated with mean relative humidity. Maximum cases of enteritis 146 (30.35%) were recorded in broiler birds of 29-35 days of age. The enteritis cases were found to be associated with coccidiosis which indicates that coccidiosis is a significant predisposing factor for enteritis. Enteritis is a major syndrome in poultry with diverse causes and is routinely found associated with different infections. Clostridium perfringens is the main causative agent of necrotic enteritis (NE) which is a financially devastating disease. Main characteristic feature is fibronecrotic enteritis mainly of the mid small intestine. Subclinical form is the most important manifestation which goes undetected and hence untreated (Kaldhusdal and Hofshagen, 1992). C. perfingens is a spore forming, anaerobic, rod shaped, encapsulated and non-motile organism. This organism is readily found in water, soil, sediment and also as a normal inhabitant of the intestinal tract of healthy poultry birds and humans. Petit et al. (1999) divided C. perfringens into 5 toxinotypes based on production of four major toxins, alpha, beta, epsilon and iota. Type A is considered to be the main causative factor for NE in poultry. The present work was undertaken to study the epidemiological factors associated with enteritis in broiler chickens in parts of Haryana.