Distribution and Quantification of Lymphocytes in the Major Lymphoid Organs of Naturally Gumboro Infected Broilers

Gumboro disease is caused by the infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) which rapidly destroys immature B-lymphocytes of bursa of Fabricious, and causes immune suppression and high mortality in commercial broiler farms in Bangladesh. To investigate the possible effect of IBDV on lymphocytes and its distribution in the major lymphoid organs, bursa of Fabricious including spleen and thymus of naturally Gumboro-infected broilers, a research was conducted in the Department of Anatomy and Histology, collaboration with the Department of Pathology, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Bangladesh. Bursa of Fabricious, spleen and thymus of 21-days-old Gumboro-infected and non-infected broilers of same age (control) were routinely processed and stained by hematoxylin and eosin to examine the distribution of lymphocytes in the major lymphatic organs as well as quantified the number of lymphocytes under high power magnification field and compared with those of control. The number of lymphocytes in bursa of Fabricious, spleen and thymus of Gumboro-infected broilers were 27.20 +/- 1.53, 66.50 +/- 2.70 and 79.30 +/- 3.92 whereas 121 +/- 3.82, 89.90 +/- 2.09 and 106.30 +/- 4.07 were in non-infected control respectively. The numbers of lymphocytes were significantly (p < 0.05) lower in all lymphatic organs of Gumboro-infected broilers than those of non-infected control. The significant numbers of lymphocytes decrease in spleen and thymus suggest that IBVD not only destroy lymphocytes in bursa of Fabricious, but also in spleen and thymus and thus may severely suppress the immune response of IBVD affected broilers.