Fowl adenoviruses (FAdVs) associated with inclusion body hepatitis (IBH) was identified in
5 commercial broiler chickens in Palestine. Investigated birds showed primary clinical signs and
6 lesions of IBH include growth retardation congested and enlarged liver with necrosis, petechial
7 hemorrhage, and basophilic intranuclear inclusion bodies. The mortality rate was from 15%. The
8 FAdV was detected and sequenced in the liver samples of the infected chicken by polymerase
9 chain reaction (PCR) using hexon gene-specific primers. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that
10 FAdVs belongs to FAdV-D serotype 10, clustered within the European highly pathogenic
11 isolates. The highest nucleotide sequence similarity was 99.48 % with highly pathogenic FAdV-
12 D serotype 10 detected from infected chicken in Poland 2010 (GenBank: LN907532.1) and
13 FAdV-D (GenBank: HE961828.1) from infected chicken in Sweden. The lowest similarity was
14 93.46% with Canadian FAdV-D (GenBank: EF685576.1). In conclusion, this is the first report
15 that describes the presence of IBH and reveals that the causative virus is closely similar to the
16 highly pathogenic FAdV-D serotype 10 of IBH in broiler chickens in Palestine.