Fowl Cholera in poultry

Very elaborate description of fowl cholera.nice pictures.its occurrence in broiler breeder is common.Hot, humid ,marshy areas are more proven &some time becomes endemic.In acute & chronic cases hock joint swelling in males is alarming.In post mortem lesion along with septicaemia consolidation of lungs is common.Affected lungs sinks in water. Sulpha +novobiocine works well in treatment.vaccination is must.

pasturella multocida cause avian heamrragic septecimea.vertical trnsmision does not occur.it shows sneezing coughing gasping ,dirrhoea, arthritis,comb and wattle also swollen.it cause the infection in the heavy breads almost 15 to 16 wks of age.it is due to sudden change in the mangmnt,presence of aflatoxin,poor sanitation.Grosly shows bursa swollen petical heamorrages serous and mucos membrane.ovarian folical misshapen.pnemonic changes in the lungs,putrifide smell from carcus,hepatomegly friable liver,yellow necrotic foci on liver.entritis specfical present on dudenal part of intestine.Control= through disinfection used phenol...Treatment=sulfa drugs,chlorophenicole with erthrocin

Dear Dr. Anil Phadke, Thank you very much for sharing your experiences in this disease! In Argentina Fowl Cholera is mainly found in broiler breeders. To my knowledge this disease is uncommon in our industrial broiler farms due to modern buildings and good management and hygienic practices, plus a short span of productive life of present broiler genetic lines. On the other hand we are free from velogenic Newcastle and pathogenic influenza virus. After 40 years of work in veterinary bacteriology, I only found one case in broilers in samples that were sent from Patagonia (in the South of our country). It is very interesting your observation about the common and alarming presentation of tarsal arthritis in broilers; I think this lesion may be present in very heavy broilers. So severe complete consolidation of lungs is something we did not found in the cases we studied, generally the affected lungs have small localised areas of consolidation that have to be spotted carefully in order to be able to isolate the bacterium. This severe lung lesion may be related to a polluted atmosphere with dust and ammonia in the air at the site where chickens breathe. Until what age the broilers are reared in your country? Regarding treatments, oxitetracycline (Terramycin®) usually is of election, but this varies according each case and previous treatments. Best regards, Dr. Horacio Raúl Terzolo

interessente exposition je voudrais savoir si sa serait les memes lesions chez le poulet de chair et dindoneaux chair et si le milieu gelose columbia au sang de bovin defibriner est un milieu selectif pour pasterella multocida un prelevement sur le foie ou le poumon ne peut pas preter confusion avec une E.coli concomitante MERCI

Dear Dr. Bouyad Regarding your very appropriate question, it is correct your observation referring that the air sac and lung lesions are similar to Escherichia coli, combined or not with Mycoplasma gallisepticum lesions (Chronic Respiratory Disease). To detect E. coli you have to use MacConkey agar. The Columbia agar with added bovine blood is not a selective agar; in this agar both E. coli and Pasteurella multocida grow as undifferentiated colonies. For the diagnosis of this type of lesions, you should cultivate the samples in parallel onto three agars: MacConkey agar, Colombia blood agar with added 7% of bovine defibrinated blood; and agar base with added 0.1 per cent of decomplemented equine serum. In MacConkey agar only Enterobacteriaceae (P. multocida is unable to grow in MacConkey agar) will grow and E. coli could be differentiated as a lactose positive colony. In obliquely illuminated serum agar base P. multocida will grow as blue (chronic cases) or iridescent (acute cases) colonies whereas any other different colony (including E. coli) are opaque and lacking of the blue colour or iridescence. We use Colombia blood agar because in some cases P. multocida grows with difficulty on serum agar base whereas it grows luxuriantly onto Columbia blood agar, afterwards we subculture from Columbia agar to agar base to differentiate colonies. Anyhow colonies in agar base are always smaller than any Enterobacteriaceae colony. Fowl Cholera may infect all type of chickens and the lesions are quite similar in all type of breeds but this disease principally affects broiler breeders (meat lines). Heavy and fat chickens are more susceptible and generally roosters in reproduction are the most susceptible. Best regards, Dr. Horacio Raúl Terzolo

Dear Nosheen Naheed: Many different lesions may be found, such as swollen sternal bursae, wattles, joints, tendon sheaths and footpads. There may be exudative conjunctivitis and pharyngitis. Torticollis may result when the meninges, middle ear, or cranial bones are infected. Generalised petechial haemorrhages in internal organs, serous and mucous membranes may be found due to the disturbances of the circulatory system by endotoxins liberated after septicaemia. The ovarian misshapen follicles are very common in Fowl Typhoid but may also happen in Fowl Cholera affecting egg production. Duodenal enteritis also may occur but this lesion is nonspecific and occurs in many other diseases. Any viral, bacterial or parasitic disease, any toxic noxa (for instance aflatoxins) or any stress factor which depresses the immune system may trigger an outbreak. Regarding your comments about treatments, we must say that poultry usage of chloramphenicol is forbidden in many countries. Best regards, Dr. Horacio Raúl Terzolo

Massive advances in our understanding of Pasteurella multicoda killed vaccines' protection is beginning. LPS genotypes can now be defined molecularly and more accurately than Heddleston typing. This can explain why challenges on farms change from serotype to serotype over time (remaining the same LPS genotype) and why apparently homologous vaccines to the challenge Heddleston serotype do not protect. Next thing we need is an understanding of LPS expression in vivo although this may be irrelevant if we can switch to modern live PM vaccines. The work was previewed at the Capetown conference (Boyce and Harper). see J Clin Microbiol. 2015 Feb;53(2):477-85. doi: 10.1128/JCM.02824-14. Epub 2014 Nov 26. Development of a rapid multiplex PCR assay to genotype Pasteurella multocida strains by use of the lipopolysaccharide outer core biosynthesis locus. Harper M, John M, Turni C, Edmunds M, St Michael F, Adler B, Blackall PJ, Cox AD, Boyce JD.

Dear Dr. Chris Morrow, thank you very much for the very useful information about development of new vaccines based on LPS genotyping. The vaccine Vaxsafe® PM from Bioproperties that protects against homologous and heterologous strains has already been tested against chicken P. multocida from around the world? Is this vaccine based on LPS genotyping? Best regards, Dr. Horacio Raúl Terzolo

Thank you for the expository description of Fowl Cholera. Please i want to know why it is not advisable to administer streptomycin, gentamicin or neomycin for the treatment.

Fortunately, I have not seen this disease in the breeders for more than 10 years. By doing the vaccination twice with an oil based vaccine, coupled with a good biosecurity, the disease is now under control. But the vaccination should be carefully administered.

Good comments by all the members. Bactrins are available for heavy infested areas. Conservative two shorts be given untill the area is clear from pasturella Multicida infection. Avoid injection at top of head it should sub cut posterior half of neck. During infction tissue samples be taken and drug senstivity is necessary for medication.

control of fowl cholera infection depends on control of rodents mainly .Otherwise infection repeats in spite of several treatments.Regarding treatments pencillin and streptomycin combination at the rateof 50 mg per kg body weight 2 days intramuscularly continuously worked very well.Besides rodent control bacterin vaccinations with 4wks interval is necessary.

Dear sir really given the practical and valuable knowledge regarding fowl cholera

Sir for prevention by vaccine booster dose are required or not in highly suspect area.....?

Wonderful explanation about fowl cholera. I have seen this disease on a farm. Good work man keep it up

Dear Dr. Bamigboye Adeyemi Olaoluwa Many thanks for your question. Most of P. multocida strains are resistant to these antibiotics. It may vary among strains and among countries/regions. This is why it is always recommended to perform sensitivity tests (susceptibility) before treatment

Dear Dr Badal Singh Vaccination should be repeated to get the booster effect, administering two doses of bacterin separated by a 3 to 4 week interval. If necessary you can give first dose at the 5th week of life. Try to produce a bacterin based on P. multocida isolated from the same farm to improve protection. Best regards

Dear sir It was nice discussion about f cholera control. However my one question is that could we use this vaccine trough IM route?

Dear Narayan Banik, Thank you for your question! Of course, you could administer the vaccine either by intramuscular or subcutaneous routes. Bacterins containing adjuvant of aluminium hydroxide may be indistinctly administered by both routes and bacterins containing oils should preferably be injected by intramuscular route. Remember that the term bacterin applies to vaccines that contain both Pasteurella multocida complete cell fixed antigens plus its own fermented broth that carries the corresponding P. multocida toxoid. Therefore bacterins affords protection against both the bacterium and the toxins. Best regards, Dr. Horacio Raúl Terzolo

Dear Dr. Ismet Mamode, You are right, standard vaccines and strict biosecurity measures efficaciously control the disease. In fact, the protection of vaccines has a limit determined by the challenge of bacteria (number of bacterial cells) that the bird receives. Good immunity of the flock and not too high challenge keeps out outbreaks of the disease in the farm. Best regards, Horacio Raúl Terzolo