AIM: The study involved the evaluation of the bursa of fabricius in healthy and experimentally infected quails with infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). METHODS: One hundred and fifty days old quail chicks were obtained and divided into two groups. The Group B birds were inoculated with two drops of IBDV antigen while Group A were inoculated with two drops of phosphate buffered saline per os and kept for 14 weeks. Birds were weighed, sacrificed and dissected to remove the bursae on which morphometric and histological procedures were done. RESULTS: Infected bursae showed an initial increase in size which later decreased for a while before attaining a second peak. Histologically, the normal bursae showed the general plan of gastrointestinal tract structures with the lamina propria containing non capsulated lymphoid follicles, which varied in arrangement and number. The infected bursae revealed interfollicular edema, lymphocytolysis, haemorrhages, fibroplasia and keratinization of the bursal substances. CONCLUSION: This study could serve as a guide to poultry clinicians and pathologists in prompt diagnosis of infectious bursal disease in both clinical and subclinical states as well as advancing the knowledge of the bursa of Fabricius in normal and in abnormal states. KEY WORDS: Quail, Bursa of Fabricius, Gastrointestinal tract.
