Marek's Disease. Now what?

[JaneyJ82]

I've had two pullets die in the last week from Marek's. I did separate the sick birds when they started to show symptoms but now I am just not sure what to do. Both coops have been cleaned but I understand that Marek's is very hard to get rid of and can hang around for a long time. Some of my birds are vaccinated but some are not. Will this wipe out my entire flock? Besides avoiding unvaccinated birds, what kind of measures do I take to control the spread or eliminating it.

 

[arrowti]

Silly question, but this has been confirmed from a necropsy?

Unfortunately, as far as I know, steps to eliminate Mareks aren't really successful. It can live in soil for years and spreads via dander, so it's likely if some birds have symptoms the others have been exposed already. Mareks effects every bird differently - some have mild symptoms, some may die from serious symptoms. Some birds never show symptoms.

This is a good thread to read through: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ding-for-resistance-to-mareks-disease.894589/

Also, another good resource: https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/mareks-disease/

I'm sorry you have to deal with this! It's one of my worst nightmares to have Mareks in the flock.

 

[Eggcessive]

What symptoms did the two that died have? It does help to get a necropsy from a state vet or a poultry lab to confirm the disease. The best way is to have them test tumor tissue or feather shafts for the virus.

Mareks can remain in the environment for many years. All chickens exposed are carriers. Many BYC members have Mareks in their flocks, and it can be a mild strain or a bad one. Some people breed their chickens and have some that never show symptoms. Some may have symptoms and may get better, but can have a recurrence of symptoms later.

Since other diseases can look like Mareks, it is good to rule those out. I really recommend this article:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[JaneyJ82]

Thank you! I did have a lab analysis done on the first one to get ill by an avian vet. I just hope it doesn't kill many more of my birds.

 

[Eggcessive]

You may want to read this post 134 by @rebrascora who deals with Mareks all the time with some advice to a newbie with possible Mareks:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/please-help-not-sure-what-the-problem-is.1272294/page-14

 

[Saaniya]

If the lab test confirm it u should pray cause Marek's is a killer and run like fire .. I hope all birds are safe in ur coop

 

[rebrascora]

If the lab test confirm it u should pray cause Marek's is a killer and run like fire ..

This is not always the case. Some strains of the virus are much less aggressive than others. Most of what you read is about the really "hot" strains because they kill a lot of birds and people are more likely to get a necropsy done when multiple birds die in a short space of time. Therefore the documented cases are more likely to be these really devastating strains.
I am pretty confident that there are many people who have a milder strain of Marek's in their flock and don't even know it. They lose a bird here and there and assume it is wry neck or vitamin deficiency or a sprain that got infected or coccidiosis or respiratory disease or the bird just lost the will to live. All these things can look like Marek's and if you only lose one bird or perhaps your bird recovers from it's lameness, you just assume it was something else and you fixed it with vitamins, or rest or Corid or whatever and is not even considered. I know this because I have one of the milder strains of Marek's and whilst I do occasionally lose a bird or maybe two to it in a year, it does not run riot in my flock and I have 30+ chickens, some years more than 60.