There are many types of unpleasant diseases associated with farm animals and birds. One of these is pasteurellosis in chickens. This is an infectious disease that can occur in all breeds of poultry, including chickens. The pasteurellosis virus is of bacterial origin and can destroy an entire farm.
Pasteurellosis in chickens
Treatment of sick chickens is inappropriate because they are living carriers of the disease until death. A vaccine made on time can save you from such pestilence. But first things first.
Pasteurellosis: how dangerous it is for poultry
Pasteurellosis of birds is a viral disease that takes several forms and usually results in death. Infection can affect chickens of any age, but most often epidemics break out among young animals.
Old birds are more resistant to this disease, they are more likely to survive after pasteurellosis. However, these chickens will always remain carriers of infection and cannot live with healthy individuals.
The causative agents of pasteurellosis in chickens
Pasteurellosis (cholera) of birds is manifested due to pasteurellas of P. Haemolytica and P. Multocida, which are in the form of ellipsoid rods. There is no dispute; the decomposition process is isolated. Smears from internal organs and blood have a bipolar color.
The structure of P. Multocida is heterogeneous; therefore, the vaccine is selected individually according to the form of the disease. Pasteurella, the causative agent of bird pasteurellosis, can live long in frozen foods and dead animals.
Bacteria cannot survive under ultraviolet light, so the paddock should be well lit. You should also treat the habitats of chickens with a 5% solution of pheanol and suspension. For the same purpose, you can use a 1% solution of bleaching lime.
Methods of infection, symptoms and forms of pasteurellosis
There are several ways to infect pasteurellosis bacilli among domestic birds:
- airways and nasal cavity after contact with an infected individual;
- broken skin;
- bacillus-infected feed;
- blood-sucking insects.
After the chicken enters the body, the virus begins to multiply in huge quantities almost immediately. Bacilli spread at the site of infection, after which they attack blood and lymph.
Throughout the disease, pasteurellosis produces aggressin to better spread the infection. The incubation period usually takes several days. Tolerance depends on the vital signs of the bird and the form of the disease.
Super acute form of pasteurellosis
The chicken instantly dies without any symptoms of the disease. This is due to the high level of toxins in the bird's body.
The appearance of an individual may be completely normal, but during the regression period, the feathered bird quickly withers.
The acute form of pasteurellosis
The most common form of the disease. The chicken shows apathy, it is inactive, with wings down. The temperature can rise to 40 ° C, from the lack of oxygen in the body manifests cyanosis.
Yellow nasal discharge appears from the nasal cavity. The chicken ceases to eat food and at the same time actively drinks water. The life span of the bird in this case is from 1 to 3 days.
Chronic form of pasteurellosis
If an individual has survived an acute form, the disease becomes chronic. That is, the ailment will return again and again.
Symptoms of this form are pronounced. The bird suffers from swollen joints of the legs and wings, the beard and comb affects necrosis.
The course of pasteurellosis in chickens in chronic form lasts up to 3 weeks and usually ends lethally. However, if the bird managed to get sick, it becomes a lifelong carrier of infection.
When birds pasteurellosis, chickens are often bloodless. During an autopsy, the following disorders can be detected: muscle tissue becomes bluish, internal organs suffer from hemorrhage, lungs become inflamed, and foci of necrosis appear throughout the body. Treatment of these birds is not possible, therefore patients with a chronic form are usually disposed of.
How to recognize pasteurellosis in chickens
At the first stages, the disease has no pronounced signs and is determined using bacteriological analysis. Analyzes are carried out only in a veterinary clinic.
The corpses of chickens who died from acute or super-acute forms of pasteurellosis are tested in laboratories. A day after sowing blood from the body, a clear growth of the culture is visible.
A smear is taken from the liver, and at the microscopic level, it turns out to see the colored bipolar peculiar to the disease. For greater certainty, an experiment is conducted on laboratory animals, which confirms or refutes the disease.
Treatment methods
If the symptoms of infection of the bird with pasteurellosis have been confirmed, then it is necessary to review the conditions of keeping and feeding the pets. Preventive treatment includes the use of symptomatic agents.
Doctors in such cases prescribe hyperimmune polyvalent serum and tetracycline antibiotics:
- chlortetracycline extract;
- chloramphenicol;
- terramycin.
The latest developments to combat pasteurellosis among poultry are:
- trisulfone;
- cobactan suspension;
- levoerythrocycline extract.
However, it should be remembered that the sick bird will always be the carrier of the infection, so it is more rational to let it slaughter. After detecting the disease on the farm, the sick chicken must be immediately isolated, and the pens and walking areas must be treated with a disinfection solution.
During an outbreak in the chicken coop, it is recommended to slaughter the entire bird, as infected individuals are not suitable for divorce.
If a disease is detected, antibacterial substances should be introduced into the feeding of healthy birds:
- Chloramphenicol, 3 times a day;
- Tetracyclinum, Doxycyclin and Oxytetracyclinum, 1 time per knock;
- Norsulfazole, 2 times a day;
- Spectrum B;
- Aquaprim;
- Floron.
If you suspect pasteurellosis, you need to act immediately. If the diagnosis is confirmed, quarantine should be introduced and prophylactic measures tightened. Only in this way is there a chance to save at least some of the birds.
Healthy individuals require compulsory vaccination. For this, an inactivated adsorbed Vaccine or Aviak in the form of an emulsion is suitable. the vaccine is dosed based on the age of the bird and will help protect the farm from the epidemic.
Preventive actions against bird pasteurellosis
Preventive actions are mainly in compliance with sanitary and norms, detection of carriers and timely vaccinations. For this, a vaccine or drugs aimed at preventing salmonellosis and pasteurellosis will go. Before using any medication against this disease, it is important to consult your veterinarian. Chicken feed should contain vitamin supplements and top dressing. Grass on the walks must be mowed, and the land is plowed.
If the disease was discovered, it is necessary to check all birds without exception, to separate the healthy from the sick, and to thoroughly disinfect the enclosures, paddocks and equipment.
If pasteurellosis broke out in the house and covered most of the chickens, it is advisable to give the birds for slaughter. Strict quarantine is established, and the export of eggs and chickens is stopped. The quarantine is valid for a month from the date of death of the last chicken.
In the fight against pasteurellosis, you need to invest in prevention, since treatment of poultry is considered irrational. Prevention should be carried out constantly, so that in time to manage to avoid the disease and the large losses associated with it.
