AUTHOR=Orakpoghenor Ochuko , Oladele Sunday Blessing , Abdu Paul Ayuba , Markus Talatu Patience , Enam Samson James , Andamin Aliyu Danlami , Muhammed Muhammed Shuaib , Usman Suleman Geidam , Esievo King Akpofure Nelson 

TITLE=Pigeons (Columba livia domestica) Are Susceptible to Infectious Bursal Disease: A Comparative Study of Their Hematological and Serum Biochemical Alterations

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Veterinary Science

VOLUME=Volume 8 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2021.673398

DOI=10.3389/fvets.2021.673398

ISSN=2297-1769

ABSTRACT=The haematological and serum biochemical alterations following very virulent infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) infection in pigeons and chickens were evaluated in this study. Sixty IBDV seronegative birds comprising thirty (3-6 weeks old) pigeons and thirty (3-weeks-old) chickens were randomly divided as follows; 10 uninoculated pigeons only, 10 inoculated pigeons + 10 sentinel chickens, 10 inoculated chickens + 10 sentinel pigeons and 10 uninoculated chickens. Inoculated birds were administered 0.20 mL of inoculum containing very virulent IBDV (vvIBDV). Blood was collected post-inoculation/exposure (pi/pe) and processed for haematology, and serum biochemistry. Results revealed significantly (P<0.05) increased packed cell volume, decreased mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and MCH concentration (MCHC) in inoculated and sentinel chickens. Total leukocyte count (TLC), heterophil and heterophil/lymphocyte (H/L) ratio as increased at 3 dpi/dpe in inoculated pigeons, and from 3-14dpi/dpe in inoculated and sentinel chickens. At 10 and 14dpi/dpe, there was significantly (P<0.05) increased serum total protein and globulin concentrations, and decreased albumin/globulin ratio in pigeons and chickens. Serum urea concentration showed significant (P<0.05) increase in inoculated and sentinel chickens at 3 and 4dpi/dpe. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report on haematological and serum biochemical alterations due to vvIBDV in pigeons.