Geez, thought it was a little pecking but it's fowl pocks!

[Plain Old Dee]

Quote:
Well, I guess my vet is wrong, then, or perhaps you are?

Chicken pox (the kind humans get) is also a herpes virus. It does not recur, either.

Now children, let's not get riled up...

The virus that causes chicken pox in humans goes dormant once the disease has run it's course, but it remains in the body. It can resurface in later years as shingles. Not something I would wish on anyone.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Well, I guess my vet is wrong, then, or perhaps you are?

Chicken pox (the kind humans get) is also a herpes virus. It does not recur, either.

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/204801.htm

also The Chicken Health Handbook, by Gail Damerow, pg 120

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/1,1607,7-153-10370_12150_12220-26362--,00.html (some disturbing photos here)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fowlpox

http://msucares.com/poultry/diseases/disviral.htm (although this does not give a breakdown of the specific virus)


Chicken pox does not recur as chicken pox unless the person has an insignificant case with only a few lesions. However the virus does recur as shingles many years later. edited to say that it can recur as shingles; it does not always do so.

 

[elmo]

Perhaps my vet misspoke; I'll ask him the next time I see him. Perhaps fowl pox is a avipoxvirus that is in the same genome as herpes viruses. I'm not sure it makes any difference to how we approach the disease in our chickens.

My understanding is that fowl pox does not recur, and of course it isn't contagious to humans.

 

[elmo]

Quote:
Well, I guess my vet is wrong, then, or perhaps you are?

Chicken pox (the kind humans get) is also a herpes virus. It does not recur, either.

Now children, let's not get riled up...

The virus that causes chicken pox in humans goes dormant once the disease has run it's course, but it remains in the body. It can resurface in later years as shingles. Not something I would wish on anyone.

I apologize. When I went back and read my comment, I realized that it probably came across as sarcastic over the internet. I didn't mean it that way. Certainly, vets (and doctors) can be wrong. I really was just trying to relay what my vet told me this Monday when I brought one of my chickens in to be examined.

 

[kcravey]

"""Does anyone know if it works like that for the chick's or can this keep coming back, I'm in a very strong mosquito vector! Also instead of using a med. starter feed again, I'm going to try natural probiotics yogurt and possible a little kombucha... """

We also have a ton of mosquitos (we live on the lake, have a pond, a creek, AND a pool!). I tried to get the vaccine down here for everyone who hadnt had it yet and all the feedstores and the vet said it was useless - if they are vaccinated, they can still get it. (?$%@) Vet said let it run its course , then they will be good for life.

 

[Plain Old Dee]

Quote:
Now children, let's not get riled up...

The virus that causes chicken pox in humans goes dormant once the disease has run it's course, but it remains in the body. It can resurface in later years as shingles. Not something I would wish on anyone.

I apologize. When I went back and read my comment, I realized that it probably came across as sarcastic over the internet. I didn't mean it that way. Certainly, vets (and doctors) can be wrong. I really was just trying to relay what my vet told me this Monday when I brought one of my chickens in to be examined.

My supervisor at work is always reminding me to watch how I word something in an email - because it's so easy to misinterpret.

And for what it's worth - my vet is old school and swears up and down that chickens can catch colds just like any other animal. He doesn't treat chickens. As far as he's concerned, if a chicken has anything at all wrong with it... cull it.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
It depends on the particular vaccination. If you read the links I posted earler, there are several related ailments, of varying strength/seriousness. Vaccinations are formulated useing each of these ailments as a target. Vacccination for the mildest forms is likely to not be permanent; vaccination for the more serious forms tend to have more serious side effects, but is more likely to be permanent.