Ascarid-associated hepatic foci in turkeys

Hepatic foci are a serious economic problem for most turkey-producing areas in the United States. Current estimates indicate that as much as 43% of the flocks sent to slaughter may experience condemnations because of hepatic foci. The present experiments were designed to duplicate naturally occurring lesions with Ascaridia dissimilis. Newly hatched poults were placed on fresh litter and given feed containing either 500 embryonated A. dissimilis ova/bird/day (from day of hatch) or no ova, in three experiments. Hepatic foci were reproduced in exposed poults in all three experiments, indicating that A. dissimilis is directly involved in the etiology of hepatic foci.