Enterococcus cecorum osteomyelitis and arthritis in broiler chickens

Starting from December 2006, Enterococcus cecorum infections with a clinical course have increasingly been observed in Belgian broilers. The present paper describes the characteristics of the disease on the basis of observations in 10 different farms. The affected chicks always suffered from paresis and lameness. Onset of the signs was usually within the first 2 weeks of life, and it resulted in up to 7% increased mortality starting from day 21-32. The cocks were affected significantly more often than the hens. Lesions of osteomyelitis of the caudal thoracic vertebrae compressing the spinal cord and/or arthritis of the hock joints were consistently found. E. cecorum was always isolated from these lesions. The disease was recurrent in successive rounds in 9 out of the 10 farms. Antibiotic treatment was only successful when initiated preventively from the first week of life onwards. Other infections often associated with similar signs were not detected. It can be concluded that E. cecorum infections form an important emerging disease in broilers, leading to high mortality rates.