What are the pathological changes of chicken cecal hepatitis?

The main lesions are in the ceca and liver. In the early or acute stage of the disease, the ceca are enlarged, the cecal mucosa shows hemorrhagic inflammation, and the intestinal wall is thickened, sausage-like; the ceca are filled with caseous plugs that block the intestinal lumen, and after peeling off, both the serosal layer and the muscular layer are seen to be necrotic. Sometimes the ceca perforate, causing generalized peritonitis. The liver is enlarged, brittle and easily crumbled, with necrotic foci on the surface ranging in size from a grain of rice to a kernel of corn; the necrotic foci are concave with slightly raised margins and are pale yellow or pale green, and in severe cases the necrotic foci coalesce or diffuse throughout the entire liver.