Help!! Marek's Disease??

[seminolewind]

Quote: Great guy, we ought to ask him for email updates on new info on Marek's.

 

[seminolewind]

Quote: X2

 

[casportpony]

It's absolutely amazing that you find more up to date info here on BYC than a lot of vets have. And feed store employees are clueless.

I had one vet tell me *not* to use Safeguard on my turkey w/blackhead because it can cause aplastic anemia (albendazole can for sure) and a TSC employee said to treat blackhead with Tylan.

Edited to add proper blackhead (histomoniasis) treatment:
Metronidazole 30mg/kg by mouth once a day for five days
Fenbendazol 50mg/kg by mouth and repeat in ten days

 

[seminolewind]

Thankyou for all your help i really appreciate it, i just checked on her no change from this morning she still tries to stand and is unsucessfull, but thats progress from yesterday, i gave her a banana and noticed she is having a lot of trouble with accuracy of her pecking she kept missing the banana,hopefully tomorrow there will be more progress, i have to get out to the store and get more kale and apples,

Yea, I've seen the "accuracy" thing so many times. Feel her breast bone. I'll bet she's real skinny.

 

[casportpony]

Yea, I've seen the "accuracy" thing so many times. Feel her breast bone. I'll bet she's real skinny.

X2, but go one more step and weigh her.

 

[Nambroth]

A digital scale is a fantastic tool to have on hand for bird owners. I got mine for shipping as part of my business, but I regularly use it to monitor both my parrots and my chickens if I suspect a problem. Changes in weight can be very telling, especially since birds have a habit of hiding illness until they are quite sick indeed. Mine is a digiweigh and I think it cost me all of $15 with shipping from ebay a few years back.

My Marek's bird had trouble 'connecting' with food, too, but again that could be a toxin problem if the corn is suspect.

 

[casportpony]

A digital scale is a fantastic tool to have on hand for bird owners. I got mine for shipping as part of my business, but I regularly use it to monitor both my parrots and my chickens if I suspect a problem. Changes in weight can be very telling, especially since birds have a habit of hiding illness until they are quite sick indeed. Mine is a digiweigh and I think it cost me all of $15 with shipping from ebay a few years back.

My Marek's bird had trouble 'connecting' with food, too, but again that could be a toxin problem if the corn is suspect.

Go team digital scale (see my avatar)! Mine is a kitchen scale, costs about $20 at Walmart or Target.

 

[DawnB]

Hi...I've been lurking reading this thread. Thanks for all the good info. I have a question about the turkey thing...I don't have any domestic turkeys; however, I have had (last fall) and probably will this spring have large flocks of wild turkeys all over our property (they strut right past the coop and run like it isn't even there).

I'm not just talking a couple...I'm talking about a flock of 50-60 birds that just mosey across our yard (I live out in the boonies if you hadn't figured that out yet). It's mostly hens with their babies and young turkeys. Occasionally I'll have a half-dozen toms wander through at a time.We usually know when they will come by, so the chickens go back in the run.

So, just out of curiosity...will wild turkeys help with the "natural vaccination" against the Marek's?


Thanks,
Dawn

 

[casportpony]

Unless I'm reading this wrong, turkeys can get Marek's
From: http://www.veterinertavukculuk.org/uploadimg/dosyalar/2005_istanbul/keynotes/fadly.pdf

Marek’s disease
Marek’s disease (MD), a T-cell lymphoma of primarily chickens is caused by a highly cellassociated
alphaherpesvirus termed MD virus (MDV) (21). The disease is and has been
controlled since early 1970s by use of conventional vaccines. During the last three decades,
research on MD has resulted not only in improved conventional vaccines, but also in improved
methods of vaccination, namely in-ovo vaccination (19). Good biosecurity practices and host
genetic resistance are also recognized as important factors in implementing any strategy for
control of MD. However, despite widespread use of vaccines and development of new methods
of vaccination, economic losses from mortality of layers and breeders and condemnation of
broilers continue to occur (18, 21). In recent years, MD has been diagnosed in commercial turkey
flocks in Germany, France, Israel and Ukraine (2, 3, 10, 11, 18, 21), suggesting that the host
range of MDV has apparently expanded to include turkeys. More studies are needed to
understand factors that lead to MD outbreaks in commercial turkeys.
The fact that MDV continues to mutate to greater virulence, reducing the effectiveness of
many existing vaccines (21) is a major concern to the poultry industry. Obviously, an important
challenge regarding control of MD in the future is developing new strategies to control losses
caused by new emerging MDV pathotypes. Development of vaccines that can interfere with
replication and shedding of MDV, and understanding role of host genes involved in resistant to
MD will undoubtedly improve our ability to implement a better strategy for control of MD in the​

future.

 

[SilkiesnFrizzle]

So from infection to visible symptoms....are we talking day old chicks that grow until 3-5 months and then present with symptoms? Once they present symptoms, the clock is ticking isn't it? What about a healthy bird that is infected at a later age, 6-12 months old? Same thing? Or if infected and the bird receives the vaccine within a month or so....will this stop the virus?? I am looking for a time table, I suppose,