Avian plague is an acute infectious disease that can affect all types of poultry and wild birds belonging to the order of chickens. Such a disease has pronounced characteristic symptoms that require immediate action on the part of the bird owner.
Sources of infection and signs of avian plague
Plague of birds is caused by filterable viruses of strains A and B, which are contained in all tissues and organs of sick birds, and are excreted with feces and nasal secretions. Viruses are unstable and usually die 2 minutes after heating to 70 ° C, but in dried blood they can persist for seven months.
A virus of strain A causes a typical plague, and a virus of strain B causes an atypical one. Both of these species are very similar to each other both in clinical signs and in the final result.
The main source of infection is sick birds, which, if the owners are not conscientious, can transmit the plague during transportation to safe areas. Healthy individuals can easily catch the disease also through infected food, water, equipment or feathers. Infection of a healthy bird occurs through the conjunctiva and mucous membranes, the digestive tract, and damaged areas of the skin.
The duration of this disease ranges from several hours to 8 days. The incubation period is within a week. A plague-sick bird has a body temperature of about 43 ° C, rapid and labored breathing, redness and dark spots on the crest and beard. The infected individual sits ruffled, with closed eyes and ruffled feathers. From its beak and nostrils, it may have a viscous bloody mucus. In the future, the bird may experience seizures, nervous twisting of the head and paralysis. After that, the sick individual dies.
Poultry plague is diagnosed on the basis of clinical signs, epizootological data, pathological and laboratory studies.
After an autopsy, a bird that has died from plague usually shows swelling of the subcutaneous tissue in the chest, head, neck and legs. Edema and inflammation of the lungs, enlargement of the thyroid and thymus glands.
Bird plague control measures
Unfortunately, the mortality rate of birds from plague is 100% - vaccines to treat this disease have not yet been invented. The farm where the infected bird was found is quarantined. Sick individuals are killed without fail, and then burned along with the remnants of feed and manure. Care items, inventory and premises are disinfected.
In large collective farms, a bird suspected of being infected is necessarily vaccinated and divided into isolated groups. Then they undergo a clinical examination every four days. During the quarantine period, it is prohibited to export not only poultry, but also poultry products from the farm, especially for sale.
