Broiler ascites: a review of the ascites work done at the Poultry Section of the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute 1981 – 1990

Broiler ascites, first seen in the form of a high altitude disease, has increased in importance world-wide in direct proportion to the improvement in growth performance of modern broilers.   At the same time, the incidence has spread gradually from high altitude (above 2000 m) down to sea level, which gave rise to proposals of alternative causes including infections, toxins and metabolic disorders. Our work centered on anatomical and physiological aspects and included hypoxia models, chemothera