~ 621 ~ Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 2019; 7(6): 621-623 E-ISSN: 2320-7078 P-ISSN: 2349-6800 JEZS 2019; 7(6): 621-623 © 2019 JEZS Received: 14-09-2019 Accepted: 18-10-2019 Rahul Singh Assistant Professor; Department of Veterinary Pathology, Khalsa College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Amritsar, Punjab, India Varun Bassessar Assistant Professor; Department of Veterinary Pathology, Khalsa College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Amritsar, Punjab, India Priynka Rani Assistant Professor; Institutional Livestock Farm Complex, Khalsa College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Amritsar, Punjab, India ML Mehra Professor and Head; Institutional Livestock Farm Complex, Khalsa College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Amritsar, Punjab, India Shagufta Azmi Professor and Head; Department of Veterinary Pathology, Khalsa College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Amritsar, Punjab, India Corresponding Author: Shagufta Azmi Professor and Head; Department of Veterinary Pathology, Khalsa College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Amritsar, Punjab, India Pathomorphological diagnosis of Hepatitis- hydropericardium syndrome in poultry: A case report Rahul Singh, Varun Bassessar, Priynka Rani, ML Mehra and Shagufta Azmi Abstract Hepatitis-hydropericardium syndrome (HHS) is one of the important viral disease of poultry caused by adenoviral infection and its associated with economic losses in poultry industry throughout world. The present study describes cases of HHS in poultry, which was presented for necropsy to the Department of Veterinary Pathology, Khalsa College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Amritsar. Grossly, lesions included, pale, friable liver with contained numerous focal to coalescing pale necrotic areas and swollen kidneys with alternating areas of pale and hemorrhagic parenchyma; the bursa of Fabricius was enlarged and edematous. In heart varying degrees of hydropericardium containing clear, straw colored fluid (Pathognomonic lesion) was recorded. The histopathological lesions in the liver congestion, areas of focal hemorrhages and hepatitis. The hepatic cords in majority of the cases were dissociated and moderate number of hepatocytes showed varying degrees of fatty changes and necrotic changes. Based on gross and characteristic microscopic findings, the HHS was diagnosed in poultry. Keywords: Poultry, hepatitis–hydropericardium syndrome, disease Introduction Poultry continues to be one of the top rising segments of the agricultural sector in India nowadays. The development rates of egg production during past 4-6 years for eggs and poultry meat are averaging at nearly 6% and 9% annually, respectively. India’s unorganized and backyard poultry sector are also one of the powerful sources for ancillary income generation by many landless/marginal farmers, and also provides nutritional security to the rural poor. There are numerous pathogens which affect the health and productivity of chickens, in turn causing economic losses to poultry industry. HHS is one of the main pathological manifestations and the majority connected with adenoviral infection in poultry [1] . Adenoviral infections are regularly reported among domestic poultry and wild species of birds. However, a few adenoviruses are directly linked with disease conditions and symptoms such as hydropericardium syndrome, inclusion body hepatitis, gizzard erosions, respiratory illness, reduced egg production, enteritis, reduced feed conversion, and retarded growth depending upon the serotypes or genotypes involved [2, 3] . The fowl adenoviruses are diagnosed regularly by isolation of the virus in embryonated chicken eggs or in cell culture, demonstration of virus particles by transmission electron microscope, or by detection of viral genome by polymerase chain reaction [4] . The virus has exaggerated poultry industry globally [3, 1] and in past two decades and during recent years many disease outbreaks have been reported from different regions of India [5, 6, 7] . The present paper describes the cases of hepatitis–hydropericardium syndrome in broiler chicken from Amritsar district regions of different local poultry farms, India and the investigation carried out based on clinical, post–mortem, histopathological examination of affected poultry birds. Materials and Methods The dead poultry from Institutional livestock farm complex (ILFC), Khalsa College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Amritsar and local poultry farms were presented for postmortem examination to the Department of Veterinary Pathology, Khalsa College Of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Amritsar.