Well, we have more preliminary information. First,
@Texas Kiki, YES I am dismayed to say Margo had abundant fat stores. No more treats for my flock. However, there was no fatty change in the liver and therefore not a contributor to clinical disease. This does very much concern me for the rest of my flock.
The laboratory findings are BRUTAL:
Chronic ongoing egg yolk peritonitis and Marek's disease
– Liver extensive and spleen mild fibrin deposition
– Ovarian stroma fibrin deposition and heterophils
– Chronic ongoing moderate coelomitis with intralesional egg yolk protein – Multifocal mild to moderate perivascular lymphocytic peripheral neuritis - Lymphocytic periureteritis
7/5/2019: Mango seems to have had ongoing egg yolk peritonitis and there is evidence of Marek's disease on microscopy. The fibrin depositions in the liver and spleen are commonly associated with acute systemic infection, although we had no growth on lung and liver cultures thus the etiologic agent cannot be identified. Nevertheless it is likely a spontaneous and sporadic infection and not contagious to your other chickens. On the other hand your other birds also likely have the Marek's disease virus. Marek's disease virus causes multiple problems and immunosuppression is a major affect which might predispose to infections. The red tinge in the lungs were likely due to the congestion or hyperemia and is an incidental finding. The sinuses had also looked slightly darker on postmortem examination and again there is no respiratory disease on microscopy. Nevertheless listening to your message about the mild respiratory signs you are seeing in your birds, another lesion (ureteritis in addition to the chronic ongoing egg yolk peritonitis) made me suspicious of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) infection and I submitted specimens to test for that.
I also got your message with regards to her nutritional condition; I had mentioned that she is in "very good body condition" on my preliminary report, which refers to her having a good amount of fat in her body. She had abundant fat stores in her abdomen, but there is no fatty change in the liver thus not a contributor to clinical disease. Avian influenza is not detected, a report to follow with the latest results.
Examined are sections of brain, peripheral nerves, heart, sinuses, trachea, air sacs, lung, liver, spleen, kidneys, ova, oviduct, feathered skin, adrenal gland, skeletal muscle, crop, pancreas and intestines.
The liver is diffusely congested and there are frequent fibrin lakes expanding/disrupting the parenchyma. There are fibrin depositions throughout the splenic parenchyma. Mild congestion in the lungs. There is mild to moderate pneumoconiosis. Egg yolk protein is arm pulmonary and air psychic ability multifocally. The air sac epithelium is cuboidal in couple of segments.
In the peripheral nerves multiple vessels are cuffed by one to two layers of lymphocytes. Thyroid is unremarkable. There are heterophils infiltrating the ovarian stroma focally extensively. Some fibrin is in a section of the ovary as well. Segmentally the intestinal serosa is expanded and obliterated by histiocytes, lymphocytes and plasma cells with proliferations and frequent brown tinged crystalline pigment and there are histiocytes engulfing egg yolk protein (chronic-ongoing egg yolk peritonitis). Kidneys are also overlain by abundant egg yolk protein. The ureters have peripheral lymphocytes.
There is abundant mucus in the sinuses with some red blood cells, minimal inflammatory infiltrates.
Little did I know it was just the French spelling.
