Spontaneous toxoplasmosis in a chicken

The carcasses of three 1-year-old, Leghorn chickens were presented for necropsy; one of the chickens was told to have shown neurological signs before death. At necropsy, meningeal and cerebral hyperemia were observed in the carcass that had neurological symptoms, and diarrhea was evident in the other two chickens. Histopathological examination revealed nonsuppurative meningoencephalitis, myositis in skeletal and cardiac muscles, and focal nonsuppurative hepatitis, and nephritis. Bradyzoites and tachyzoites were present in the meninges and brain. The present case is the first report of Toxoplasma gondii infection in a chicken in Turkey.