Author(s)

Paulinus Ekenedilichukwu Emennaa¹, Didacus Chukwuemeka Eze², Foinkfu Kennedy Chah², John Osita Arinze Okoye², John Ikechukwu Ihejioha², Milton Nancy Sati¹, Ifeanyi Onyema², Christian Okorie-Kanu², Asabe Adamu Dzikwi-Emennaa³, Uchendu Chidiebere³, Kayode Olorufemi², Akuchi Chidiabi Nwamo¹, Jacintha Ngozi Omeke², Israel Joshua Barde¹

¹National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Nigeria.
²Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.
³Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Jos, Jos, Nigeria.

Salmonellosis is a serious medical and veterinary problem worldwide and causes great concern in the food and livestock industries, especially the poultry industry which occupies a prominent position in the provision of animal protein and accounts for about 25% of local meat production in Nigeria particularly and is identified as a disease of major economic importance causing low performance in poultry production. The study was carried out at the experimental animal farm, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. One hundred (100) five-week old chickens obtained from the Poultry division of National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, were used for the experiment. The birds were randomly assigned to 4 groups of 25 birds per group (A, B, C, D). Each bird in all the groups received 0.5 ml of PBS containing 1 × 108 cfu/ml of Salmonella enterica serovar Zega as follows: Group A was infected with Salmonella Zega intra-nasally (IN). Group B was infected with Salmonella Zega intra-peritonealy (IP). Group C was infected with Salmonella Zega orally (OR). Group D was the Uninfected control (CT). There was a significant change (p < 0.05) in the mean corpuscular volume (MCV) post-infection in all infected groups, however no statistical significant changes (p > 0.05) in the mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) in the infected groups compared across the different days post infection. There was significant increase (p < 0.05) in the mean aspartate transferase (AST) and mean alanine transferase (ALT) after infection in all the infected groups between day 7 and 10 post infection. There was also a marked increase (p < 0.05) in the mean serum total protein values in all infected groups following infection. The findings of this study showed that apart from Salmonella Pullorum and Salmonella Gallinarum that are known to cause pathology in birds Salmonella Zega which is none host specific for birds can also cause pathology in them. This is the first report in the study area to the best of our knowledge.

Hematological, Serum Biochemistry, Cockerel, Salmonella Zega

Emennaa, P. , Eze, D. , Chah, F. , Arinze Okoye, J. , Ihejioha, J. , Sati, M. , Onyema, I. , Okorie-Kanu, C. , Dzikwi-Emennaa, A. , Chidiebere, U. , Olorufemi, K. , Nwamo, A. , Omeke, J. and Barde, I. (2019) Haematological and Serum Biochemistry Profile of Cockerels Experimentally Infected with Salmonella enterica Serovar Zega. Open Journal of Veterinary Medicine, 9, 171-184. doi: 10.4236/ojvm.2019.912015.