Received: 05-05-2013 / Accepted: 10-08-2013
A study on biochemical and physiological characteristics of blood wasconducted on 30 twenty-week-old Isa Brown chickens infected with Newcastle disease in 3 outbreaks and 30 healthy chickens of the same breed used as a control. Chickens infected with Newcastle disease showed reducednumber of red blood cells (1.79 million/mm3), the hemoglobin concentration (7.36 mg%), the hematocrit (23.08%), the mean corpuscular volume (128.94 μm3) and the mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (41.12 pg) in comparison with the control (P<0.05). In contrast, the number of white blood cells(20.41 thousand/mm3), percentage of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (57.8%), eosinophil (5.57%), monocyte (2.23%) and lymphocyte (33.7%) in WBC increased in comparison with the control (P <0.05). The blood biochemical indices such as the total protein content (18.19g/l) and the ratio A/G (0.64) of infected chickens were also reduced (P <0.05). These results have contributed to the pathological aspects of Isa Brown Chickens infected with Newcastle disease and can serve as a basis for diagnosis.