🦠 Diseases

Viral

Ranikhet

• Most dangerous viral disease of chicken.
• Ranikhet disease, also known in the West as New Castle disease is a contagious and highly fatal diseases of flows.
• One of the most serious virus diseases of poultry.
• The disease is also suspected to cause conjunctivitis among laboratory workers and persons handling infected birds.

  

• The first symptoms usually observed in young birds are sneezing, gasping and often droopiness.
• Within a short time after appearance of respiratory symptoms, deaths occur in a flock in quick succession and in increasing numbers from day to day.
• The affected birds are full and depressed with ruffled feathers.
• These symptoms are accompanied by diarrhea, characterize by the passing of a watery stool with an offensive smell.
• There is profuse salivation.
• Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) discovered vaccine named Lasota for Ranikhet disease.

  

Infectious Bursal Disease (IBD)

• Caused by IBD virus. Means Viral disease.
• Also called Gumboro disease.
• Highly contagious
• Bursa disease causes immuno suppresion and which affects humoral antibodies production.
• Usually chicks of 2-6 weeks old affected
• Symptoms: whitish diarrohoea, the feathers around the vent are usually stained with faeces containing plenty of urates.
• Prevention: Vaccination at 2nd & 3rd weeks of age.

Fowl Pox

• It is viral disease.
• The dry form of fowl pox is characterized by raised, wart-like lesions on unfeathered areas (head, legs, vent, etc.).
• In laying hens, infection results in a transient decline in egg production.
• In the wet form there are canker-like lesions in the mouth.
• The wet form may cause respiratory distress by obstructing the upper air passages.
• No treatment is available. However, fowl pox is relatively slow- spreading. Thus, it is possible to vaccinate to stop an outbreak.
• Fowl pox outbreaks in poultry confined to houses can be controlled by spraying to kill mosquitoes. However, if fowl pox is endemic in the area, vaccination is recommended.

  

Avian Influenza

• Viral disease.
• Also knonw as Bird Flu.
• Avian influenza is categorized as mild or highly pathogenic.
• The mild form produces listlessness, loss of appetite, respiratory distress, diarrhea, drop in egg production.
• The highly pathogenic form produces facial swelling, blue comb and wattles, and dehydration with respiratory distress.
• There can be blood-tinged discharge from the nostrils. Mortality can range from low to near 100 per cent.
• A vaccination programme used in conjunction with a strict quarantine has been used to control mild forms of the disease.
• With the more lethal forms, strict quarantine and rapid destruction of all infected flocks remains the only effective method of stopping an avian influenza outbreak.

Blue Comb (Viral)

• Disease primarily of young laying hens.
• It is also called pullet disease.
• Blue colour of combs.

  

Marek’s Disease

• Viral Disease found in poultry.
• Marek’s Disease will cause inflammation and tumors in the nerves, spinal column, and brain. In this form, birds will become paralyzed in the legs, or wings or may develop head tremors.
• There is no treatment for Marek’s disease.
• Diseased birds should be promptly removed from the flock and humanely destroyed (Culling).

  

Infectious Bronchitis (IB)

• IB is one of the most important viral diseases of poultry.
• It causes major economic losses to the poultry industry.
• IB is an acute, highly contagious, viral respiratory disease of chickens. characterized by tracheal rales, coughing, and sneezing.
• Symptoms: Nasal discharge, rales, coughing and sneezing.
• Spread by aerosol, ingestion of contaminated feed and water, contact with contaminated equipment and clothing.

  

Turkey Rhinotracheitis

• Viral disease.
• Swollen head syndrome (SHS) is an acute, highly contagious upper respiratory tract infection of poultry.
• The typical clinical signs seen in chickens infected with the virus include swelling of the periorbital and infraorbital sinuses, particularly around the eye, coupled with mild conjunctivitis.

  

Vaccination

• “Prevention is better than Cure”.
• Many viral diseases cannot be treated but can be controlled only by preventive vaccination.

  

Bacterial

• Pullorum
• Fowl Cholera
• Fowl Typhoid
• Colibacillosis

Protozoan

• Coccidiosis: Severe upto 10 weeks of age, due to poor litter management, bloody droppings, high mortality, production performance is hampered.

  

Nutritional Disorders

• Vitamin E Deficiency: Encephalomalacia
  • Crazy chick disease
  • It causes paralysis of leg, retraction of head, convulsions, death.
  • Provide vegetable oils, synthetic Vit E etc to the birds.

    

• Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) Deficiency: Curled toe paralysis
  • Tendency to walk on hocks, dermatitis on corners of mouth, vent and foot pads.
  • Provide fish products, Vit B2, rice bran.
• Vitamin D Deficiency: Rickets
• Vitamin Mn Deficiency: Perosis
• Vitamin Zn Deficiency: Parakeratosis

- G.C. Banerjee: A Textbook of Animal Husbandry
- https://www.poultryindia.co.in/
- https://nbagr.icar.gov.in/
- Wikipedia