body hepatitis-
hydropericardium
syndrome (IBH-HPS) and
Emergence of
Hydropericardium
Syndrome in Broilers of
Chitwan Nepal
Dr.Kedar Karki,Dr.Subir Singh
• IBH/HPS is an acute infectious disease
characterized by typical hydropericardium,
severe anaemia, necrotic hepatitis and high
mortality. In natural outbreaks, the affected
birds may not exhibit any clinical signs (
Jaffery, 1988) except sudden heavy
mortality (Ravikumar et al., 1997). Mortality
rates in various outbreaks range from 15-
60% (Asrani et al., 1997).
• Inclusion body hepatitis-hydropericardium
syndrome (IBH-HPS), also known as "litchi
disease", is a common disease of broiler
chicken (Cheema et al., 1989) caused by
fowl adenoviruses of serotype 4. The disease
mostly affects young birds between 3 and 6
weeks of age (Niazi et al., 1989) and
occasionally layer and breeder pullets also.
Rarely the disease has been reported from
older broilers, (Asrani et al., 1997) or in
other species of birds like pigeon (Naeem
and Akram, 1995).
• Litchi Heart disease, primarily of broiler
chickens, was first reported in Angara
Goth near Karachi, Pakistan, during 1987
(Khawaja et al., 1988; Gowda and
Satyanarayana, 1994), and it has been
reported to be particularly important in
some countries in Asia and America
(Jaffery, 1988; Shane, 1996; Abe et al.,
1998).
• Emergence of “Hydropericardium
Syndrome” in Broilers of Chitwan
• In the month of June and July 2009, the
veterinarians of Chitwan have experienced
an emergence of Hydropericardium
Syndrome in Broilers. The disease is
showing the high spread rate with high
morbidity and mortality pattern. The
disease has been reported from
Navalparashi, Chitwan and Makwanpur.
Epidemiological Status:Chitwon
Nepal