Colibacillosis is a disease in poultry that often occurs in poultry farms in developing countries, including Indonesia. This disease is generally caused by cage or environmental sanitation problems, as well as poor poultry husbandry patterns. Colibacillosis, caused by Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) infection, is one of the significant health problems in the poultry industry with clinical symptoms such as emaciation decreased appetite, impaired growth, diarrhea, dirty or sticky feathers around the vent, bloated intestines and white feces, especially in Indonesia. This study aims to identify histopathologically and detect virulence genes of Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli in broiler chickens. The methods used included organ sampling such as heart, liver, jejunum and cecum, which were then processed for histopathology preparation using Hematoxylin-Eosin (HE) staining. In addition, molecular diagnosis was performed using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique to detect virulence genes, iroN and hlyF. The results showed that there were avian pathogenic Escherichia coli isolates in chickens suspected of colibacillosis with positive blood agar culture showing hemolysin production (β-hemolysis) and the gene encoding hlyF was found positive but the gene encoding iroN was not found. Histopathology results of liver, heart, jejunum and cecum infected with pathogenic Escherichia coli showed damage in the form of hemorrhage, necrosis, rupture of intestinal villi, erythrocyte accumulation, central venous congestion and fatty degeneration. Our study shows that avian pathogenic Escherichia coli strains can be isolated from broiler chickens suffering from colibacillosis and cause pathological changes anatomically. This study emphasizes the importance of a better understanding of this pathogen to develop effective prevention and control strategies in the poultry farming industry.
Wibisono et al. (2025) studied this question.