LPM 222: Diversified poultry production and current concepts in poultry management and marketing [Livestock Production Management (Regional Interest)] (1+1)

FOWL CHOLERA 

• Fowl Cholera, also known as Pasteurellosis, is a contagious disease affecting all domestic and wild birds.
• Pasteurella multocida is the causative agent, to which geese are highly susceptible and mortality can be hiah.

Symptoms

• Fowl Cholera usually appears as a septicaemic disease, associated with high morbidity and mortality.
• Perhaps the most characteristic aspect of the acute form is the sudden death of birds with the symptoms appearing only a few hours before death. The chronic form, which can follow the acute form, normally shows as localised infections.
• The lesions associated with this disease can take several forms, but in most cases the heart, pericardium and air sacs are damaged.

Treatment

• Fowl Cholera is not a disease of the hatchery nor is it one transmitted through the egg. Rather, infection occurs when the geese are on the farm. The first step in the control of Fowl Cholera is therefore good sanitary management practices and keeping the geese separate from other birds.
• In areas where Fowl Cholera is present either in geese or other species of birds, vaccination of all birds is recommended. In the case of an outbreak, it is possible to treat the birds to stop the spread of the disease, but this must be done quickly.
• A number of sulphonamides, such as sulphamethazine, sulphamerazine, sulphaquinoxaline and sulphathoxypyridazine have been shown to be effective when administered in the feed or water.
• In addition, a number of antibiotics when given intramuscularly have been shown to give good results. These include chlortetracycline, oxytetracycline, chloramphenicol and penicillin. Erythromycin in the water and both oxytetracycline and chlortetracycline in the feed have also been seen to be effective.