Isolation offrom free-range poultry with spotty liver disease in New Zealand.

Abstract

In October 2019, a free-range egg laying flock suffering an outbreak of spotty liver disease was investigated. Eight 32-week-old hens were examined post-mortem.Five of the eight hens had sparse, focal, gross hepatic lesions typical of spotty liver disease. Histopathology of the liver showed random, focal hepatic necrosis, lymphoplasmacytic cholangitis/pericholangitis and, in one hen, severe lymphoplasmacytic cholecystitis.-like organisms were grown from all eight bile samples which were confirmed by PCR as. The genome ofisolates from the outbreak were sequenced and compared to those of isolates from Australia and the United Kingdom. Phylogenetic analysis based on single nucleotide polymorphisms showed that theisolates from this outbreak were most closely related to isolates from Australia.focal hepatic necrosis.This is the first report of an outbreak of spotty liver disease confirmed to be caused byin poultry in New Zealand. Therefore infection withshould be considered as a differential diagnosis for mortality in laying hens around peak lay in New Zealand.