In 2007–2008, ILT was diagnosed in broilers, capons, and
cockerels, showing a mild respiratory disease in different geographic
areas of Italy. Most cases were described in northern Italy in an area
characterized by a high density of industrial poultry (broilers and
layers) farms and dealer farms. These are the first cases of mild ILT
observed in the broiler population in Italy. The last epidemic of ILT
was in the 1980s and was characterized by severe forms of the
disease. In the period between the two epidemics, a few cases had
been occasionally diagnosed in small backyard flocks or commercial
layer hens, but never in intensive broiler flocks.