Dry fowlpox - question on infectious period

[Helen_Jayne]

Hi, I wonder if anyone here is knowledgeable about fowlpox? I have a cockerel who has it, we actually took him to a vet to get it confirmed and she prescribed antibiotics and a cream for his comb (expensive!). Since then I have kept him seperate and so far, fingers crossed, none of the other 4 birds are showing signs. I understand from the vet the incubation period is up to a month. At this stage his comb is very scabby and he still has a lump over his eye, which has gone down quite a bit, but he's fit and well now, crowing and very active. He was diagnosed a week ago.
At what point would it be safe to return him to the flock? Does anyone know at what stage he will stop being infectious? Or do I have to wait for all the scabs and bumps to go before I can do that? Obviously I don't want to risk infecting the others, I am trying to rehome them as well so need to be absolutely certain they are disease free before I can do that.

 

[dawg53]

Mosquitos are the main vector for fowl pox. I've dealt with it. It is contagious to other birds and passes slowly through a flock. Generally it takes anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks to go through a flock. The lesions are very infective.
Fowl pox is a virus, antibiotics are ineffective treating it. It will treat secondary bacterial infections. For example; if your rooster scratches a lesion near his eye, antibiotics might be needed in order to prevent a bacterial infection in the eye. I've had to use Neosporin in this instance and it worked just fine. More severe infections would require an antibiotic such as amoxicillin or other antibiotic as needed.

The good news is that once the virus passes through the flock, your birds will be immune to that particular strain of fowl pox. Eggs are safe to eat.
You can put iodine on the lesions. Iodine kills the virus and they will shrink and disappear or fall off onto the ground. Avoid putting iodine near his eyes.

What is the name of the cream that the vet prescribed? I'm curious.

 

[Helen_Jayne]

Thank you so much and I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you. The cream is Betafuse for dogs, 1mg/ +5mg/g gel.
How long do you think it takes before the scabs dry up and they are able to rejoin the flock? My cockerel has been in quarantine a month now and to be honest, his scabs have only got worse although he does seem well in himself. I will try that with the iodine, it's much better than paying for the gel.

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you happen to have any picture of the scabs? Normally, pox scabs do not require any treatment. Vets can misdiagnose things like pox. If you do not have mosquitoes just before he came down with symptoms, or if you didn’t have a case of pox last Fall, then I would be skeptical that it was actually fowl pox. Pox is rare in winter months where it is cold. Fallen scab particles can become airborne and still remain infectious for months. Most people do not isolate a chicken with pox, since it is mostly spread by mosquitoes. If we can look at a picture we might be able to help.