Studies on the pathogenesis of staphylococcal osteomyelitis in chickens. I. Effect of stress on experimentally induced osteomyelitis.

A single strain of Staphylococcus aureus was used to study the pathogenesis of osteomyelitis in chickens. The disease was consistently reproduced in 6-week-old broiler chickens when 1 X 10(5) or more organisms were given intravenously. Severe feed restriction, debeaking, and single or multiple injections of corticosteroids delayed the appearance and decreased the severity of lesions due to staphylococcal infection. This increased resistance was associated with increased numbers of circulating heterophils and monocytes. No correlation between the presence of tibial dyschondroplasia and osteomyelitis was found.