Help with my unidentified disease

[sussexmarans]

My chickens have recently , one by one been catching this weird disease. First they get a snotty nose, then just the one eye swells up and closes. It's really weird, would appreciate any help.

 

[aoxa]

Infectious Coryza.

Infectious coryza is an acute respiratory disease of chickens characterized by nasal discharge, sneezing, and swelling of the face under the eyes. It is distributed worldwide. The disease is seen only in chickens; reports of the disease in quail and pheasants probably describe a similar disease that is caused by a different etiologic agent.
In developed countries such as the USA, the disease is seen primarily in pullets and layers and occasionally in broilers. In the USA, it is most prevalent in commercial flocks in California and the southeast, although northeastern USA has recently experienced significant outbreaks. In developing countries, the disease often is seen in very young chicks, even as young as 3 wk of age. Poor biosecurity, poor environment, and the stress of other diseases are probably the main reasons why infectious coryza is more of a problem in developing countries. The disease has no public health significance.
Etiology:
The causative bacterium, Haemophilus paragallinarum (gallinarum) is a gram-negative, pleomorphic, nonmotile, catalase-negative, microaerophilic rod that requires nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (V-factor) for in vitro growth. When grown on blood agar with a staphylococcal nurse colony that excretes the V-factor, the satellite colonies appear as dewdrops, growing adjacent to the nurse colony. V-factor-independent H paragallinarum have been recovered in South Africa and Mexico. The most commonly used serotyping scheme is the Page scheme, which groups H paragallinarum isolates into 3 serovars (A, B, and C) that correlate with immunotype specificity.

Epidemiology and Transmission:
Chronically ill or healthy carrier birds are the reservoir of infection. Chickens of all ages are susceptible, but susceptibility increases with age. The incubation period is 1-3 days, and the disease duration is usually 2-3 wk. Under field conditions, the duration may be longer in the presence of concurrent diseases, eg, mycoplasmosis.
Infected flocks are a constant threat to uninfected flocks. Transmission is by direct contact, airborne droplets, and contamination of drinking water. “All-in/all-out” management has essentially eradicated infectious coryza from many commercial poultry establishments in the USA. Commercial farms that have multiple-age flocks tend to perpetuate the disease. Egg transmission does not occur. Molecular techniques such as restriction endonuclease analysis and ribotyping have been used to trace outbreaks of infectious coryza.

Clinical Findings:

In the mildest form of the disease, the only signs may be depression, a serous nasal discharge, and occasionally slight facial swelling. In the more severe form, there is severe swelling of one or both infraorbital sinuses with edema of the surrounding tissue, which may close one or both eyes. In adult birds, especially males, the edema may extend to the intermandibular space and wattles. The swelling usually abates in 10-14 days; however, if secondary infection occurs, swelling can persist for months. There may be varying degrees of rales depending on the extent of infection. In Argentina, a septicemic form of the disease has been reported, probably due to concurrent infections. Egg production may be delayed in young pullets and severely reduced in producing hens. Birds may have diarrhea, and feed and water consumption usually is decreased during acute stages of the disease.

 

[dawg53]

With coryza, there is one telltale sign that is unmistakable; a distinct foul odor enaminating around the head area. In any case it could possibly be coryza, infectious bronchitis, maybe mycoplasma gallisepticum. Bloodwork or a necropsy would need to be done to determine exactly what you're dealing with. You can contact your local extension office or state agriculture department to see how to go about doing this.

 

[aoxa]

With coryza, there is one telltale sign that is unmistakable; a distinct foul odor enaminating around the head area. In any case it could possibly be coryza, infectious bronchitis, maybe mycoplasma gallisepticum. Bloodwork or a necropsy would need to be done to determine exactly what you're dealing with. You can contact your local extension office or state agriculture department to see how to go about doing this.

Since you are here anyway,

What are the chances of it just being Conjunctivitis? A friend of mine just had a necropsy done on a few birds who had the same symptoms as above. They said it was the human form of pink eye. I've never even heard of that in chickens.

 

[Eggcessive]

There are 5 or 6 different respiratory diseases that are common in chickens, and DAWG53 listed the main ones. All of the respiratory diseases have nasal discharge and eye swelling as symptoms, except coryza has the foul smell so it might be easier to diagnose. If you google "common respiratory diseases of chickens" you will get plenty of expert information to help you identify what it could be. However, hardly any of these diseases can be positively ID'd because they are so hard to culture. Mycoplasma is even difficult to grow out in a human lab culture, and since most vets don't do much with chickens, you have to send in frozen dead birds to a state lab. Even then I don't know how accurate they are.

 

[sussexmarans]

Thanks for the help

 

[De Wet]

There are 5 or 6 different respiratory diseases that are common in chickens, and DAWG53 listed the main ones. All of the respiratory diseases have nasal discharge and eye swelling as symptoms, except coryza has the foul smell so it might be easier to diagnose. If you google "common respiratory diseases of chickens" you will get plenty of expert information to help you identify what it could be. However, hardly any of these diseases can be positively ID'd because they are so hard to culture. Mycoplasma is even difficult to grow out in a human lab culture, and since most vets don't do much with chickens, you have to send in frozen dead birds to a state lab. Even then I don't know how accurate they are.

acording to website s MG also have a foul smell

 

[De Wet]

Since you are here anyway,
What are the chances of it just being Conjunctivitis? A friend of mine just had a necropsy done on a few birds who had the same symptoms as above. They said it was the human form of pink eye. I've never even heard of that in chickens.

all this stuff is so confusing

 

[dawg53]

all this stuff is so confusing

This is why I recommended testing in post #3. Here's a link to respiratory diseases in poultry:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[Lavendise]

Because I am a newbie, please be understanding about this comment. Before the testing, and before the necropsy, would it not be a good thing to just
get the vaccine for some of the above listed common poultry diseases. I vaccinate all my dogs and cats before they get the diseases and before the necropsy.
I checked on the Internet last night for poultry vaccines. Lo and behold, Jeffers pet website has many of the vaccines for the above mentioned poultry diseases.
Most of them are not that expensive. The dosages are small. I believe .5 cc given IM or Sub Q One bottle treats like, 5,000 birds. Even if you have 8 or 10 birds, the
price of the bottle of vaccine is like 6. dollars. Some of the vaccines do cost a bit more. But, the price of testing and a necropsy may cost more( unless all these services are free)
After reading this thread, I am almost convinced I need to vaccinate my 60 birds. But hey, I am a newbie to the chicken world, so maybe someone will tell me
different. I just know I vaccinate all my other animals. And I believe I've also been vaccinated. So how about the chickens?