An unusual Clostridium colinum infection in broiler chickens

An unusual syndrome has been observed during the past two years in flocks of 12- to 25-day-old broiler chickens in Israel. The disease is characterized by enterotoxaemic-like signs including a high and sudden mortality, apathy, severe localized enteritis and nephrosis. C. colinum which is the causal agent of ulcerative enteritis has been the only bacteria consistently isolated from the affected chickens. The clinical and pathological findings in this syndrome are different from those reported for ulcerative enteritis.