Spotty liver disease in Jordan: An emerging disease

Abstract

Spotty liver disease is an acute bacterial disease that affects the poultry industry throughout the world. In this report, we discuss the first documented outbreak of the recently emerging disease, spotty liver disease, in a poultry flock in Jordan. The clinical history, pathological and molecular findings are described. The outbreak was characterised by recurrent mortalities that subsided with antibiotic treatments. Grossly, there were multiple pinpoint white foci distributed throughout the enlarged liver and less frequently throughout the spleen too. Histologically, the white foci represented areas of acute hepatocellular lytic necrosis and degeneration that were consistent with those of spotty liver disease. An end point polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay targeting the glycerol kinase gene, coupled with sequencing, confirmed the pathological diagnosis. Continuous surveillance is needed to estimate the prevalence of this disease in Jordanian poultry flocks.