Bianco C, Balanescu B, Cieslicka U, Balanescu P, Stefanov K, Lopez P and Hristova N
Cellulitis of broiler or ‘meat-type’ chicken is an emerging technopathy, a disadvantageous result of high and intensive animal production, a production cycle disease. Cellulitis causes significant morbidity, mortality and economic losses to the poultry industry: condemnation, downgrading at processing, trimming and reprocessing of affected carcasses. Cellulitis is caused by several different bacteria but most notably by Escherichia coli. Cellulitis-affected birds do not exhibit clinical symptoms commonly associated with colisepticemia, and the infection is often detected at slaughter, which results in carcass condemnation at processing. The slaughterhouse, therefore, is a privileged site for the detection and identification of avian cellulitis. The goal of this brief review is a dual approach towards the characterization of avian cellulitis. This clinicopathologic entity will be described and interpreted in terms of pathology with epidemiological and pathogenetical informations. Then practical cues and skills will be provided for the identification of avian cellulitis during post post-mortem inspection in poultry processing plants.