A nine - year retrospective study of avian neoplastic diseases in Zaria, Kaduna state, Nigeria

Avian neoplastic diseases have been identified as one of the leading causes of mortality and production losses in commercial chickens in Nigeria. Although available reports described the trend of Marek’s disease in Zaria, Kaduna state, they did not take cognizance of other neoplastic diseases of poultry hence the need for this study. The clinic records of the Avian Clinic of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH), Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, were examined for cases of all avian neoplastic diseases from 2002 to 2010. The overall prevalence of avian neoplastic diseases was 7.58% (234/3085). Marek’s disease (MD) and avian leukosis (AL) were the only avian neoplastic diseases of poultry reported during the period under review. Marek’s disease contributed 85.90% (201/234) of the total avian neoplastic diseases outbreaks while AL was responsible for only 14.10% (33/234) of the outbreaks. The overall prevalence of MD was 6.25% (201/3085) while that of AL was 1.07% (33/3085). Chicken (99.57%) and duck (0.43%) were the only species of birds affected by the diseases. The types of chickens that were affected include commercial layers (97.85%), exotic broilers (0.86%), exotic cockerels (0.86%) and Nigerian indigenous chicken (0.43%). The average age of poultry affected was 20.17 (SD=±2.6) weeks for MD and 41.43 (SD=±15.4) weeks for AL. Weight loss (55.98%), ruffled feathers (47.01%), diarrhea (39.79%) and leg paralysis (17.52%) were the most reported clinical signs. The most consistent gross lesions observed were hepatomegaly (76.50%), emaciated carcass (75.64%), renomegaly (52.56%) and splenomegaly (44.87%). Neoplastic growths were mostly observed on the liver (46.58%), kidney (28.2%) and heart (25.21%). The sciatic nerve (20.51%) and bursa of Fabricius (3.85%) were also affected. There is a remarkable increase in the cases of avian neoplastic diseases over the study period which underscores the importance of a National control program for these important diseases of poultry. Keywords: Avian neoplastic diseases, Avian leukosis, Clinico-pathological changes, Marek’s disease, Prevalence

[1]  C. Okonkwo.  An Outbreak of Marek’s Disease in Adult Layer Chickens in Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria , 2015 .

[2]  C. Meseko,et al.  OUTBREAK OF MYELOCYTOMATOSIS IN LAYER CHICKENS INVOLVING SOME COMMERCIAL FARMS IN NIGERIA : MORPHO-HISTOLOGICAL LESIONS AND THE DETECTION OF ITS ANTIGEN USING ANTIGEN CAPTURE , 2015 .

[3]  P. Abdu,et al.  Retrospective and clinical studies of Marek's disease in Zaria, Nigeria , 2013 .

[4]  I. Gimeno,et al.  Current Status of Marek's Disease in the United States and Worldwide Based on a Questionnaire Survey , 2013, Avian diseases.

[5]  Jwander Luka Daba,et al.  Retrospective Studies of Marek's Disease Diagnosed in Some Towns in Nigeria, 2000 - 2009 , 2013 .

[6]  A. Magaji,et al.  Survey of poultry diseases among exotic breeds of poultry in Katsina metropolis, Katsina state, Nigeria , 2012 .

[7]  M. Raji,et al.  Seroprevalence of avian leukosis virus antigen using ELISA technique in commercial exotic-layer chickens in Zaria and its environs , 2012 .

[8]  A. Wakawa,et al.  A Retrospective Analysis of Marek’s Disease Diagnosed at Poultry Clinic of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria , 2012 .

[9]  S. Vairamuthu,et al.  MAREK'S DISEASE AND LYMPHOID LEUCOSIS IN CHICKEN - A HISTOPATHOLOGICAL SURVEY , 2009 .

[10]  L. Jwander,et al.  Prevalance of avian leukosis and mareks disease in Ilorin, Kwara state, Nigeria. , 2009 .

[11]  M. Ducatez,et al.  Seroprevalence of Avian Influenza Virus, Infectious Bronchitis Virus, Reovirus, Avian Pneumovirus, Infectious Laryngotracheitis Virus, and Avian Leukosis Virus in Nigerian Poultry , 2006, Avian diseases.

[12]  Zhao-yang He,et al.  Occurrence of avian leukosis virus subgroup J in commercial layer flocks in China , 2004, Avian pathology : journal of the W.V.P.A.

[13]  S. Baigent,et al.  Marek's disease virus: Biology and life cycle , 2004 .

[14]  L. N. Payne,et al.  Neoplastic diseases: Marek's disease, avian leukosis and reticuloendotheliosis. , 2000, Revue scientifique et technique.

[15]  I. Davidson,et al.  Multiple infection of chickens and turkeys with avian oncogenic viruses: prevalence and molecular analysis. , 1999, Acta virologica.

[16]  L. N. Payne.  Leukosis/sarcoma group , 1997 .

[17]  D. Adene,et al.  A TEN YEAR PREVALENCE STUDY OF MAREK'S DISEASE AND AVIAN LEUKOSES AT IBADAN, NIGERIA , 1986 .

[18]  V. Dushkin,et al.  [Marek's disease]. , 1972, Voprosy virusologii.