INFECTIOUS
DISEASE
|
POULTRY
AFFECTED
CAUSE |
SYMPTOMS |
TREATMENT |
PREVENTION |
Brooder pneumonia |
Young chicken and turkeys especially |
Fungus: Aspergillus fumigatus |
Rapid breathing, labored, depression |
None |
Strict sanitation in brooder equipment |
Blackhead or histommoniasis |
Turkeys especially |
Protozoa: Histoma meleagridis |
Listless, ruffled feathers, dark blue head |
Carbasone, nitarsone, dimetridazole, ipronidazole, acidified copper sulfate, plus others |
Strict sanitation; rotate ground; keep other birds away |
Botulism Lembunich |
Ducks |
Bacteria: Clostridium botulinum (toxin) |
Sudden death |
None |
Sanitation |
Coccidiosis |
All species |
Coccidia, one or more variety for each species of bird |
Bloody droppings in chickens |
Amprolium, sulfonamides; get the current recommendations
|
Sanitation |
Duck plague |
All species |
Herpes virus |
Sudden death |
|
Keep wild fowl away from flock, and vaccination |
Fowl cholera |
All |
Bacteria: Pasteurella multocida |
Rapid death |
Sulfaquinoxaline, tetracycline |
Vaccination |
Fowl pox |
Chickens, turkeys |
Virus |
Poxlike sores on unfeathered areas of body |
None |
Vaccination, in areas where disease is a problem |
Viral hepatitis of ducks (DVH) |
Ducks under 7 weeks |
Picornavirus |
Sudden death |
None |
Rat and wild duck control; strict iso- lation of young ducks; vaccination of adult breeder stock from older birds |
Hemorrhagic enteritis of turkeys |
Ducks under 7 weeks |
Group II adenovirus |
Sudden onset, bloody diarrhea |
None |
Vaccination (given in drinking water) enteritis of turkeys |
Infectious bronchitis |
Chickens |
Coronavirus |
Coughing, tearing |
None |
Good nursing, vaccination |
Infectious coryza |
Chickens |
Bacterium: Hemophilus gallinarum |
Facial swelling may close eyes, discharge |
Erythromycin |
Buy replacement from clean flock; a bacterin is available |
Infectious laryngotracheitis |
Chickens |
Virus |
Gasping, coughing with hock extended |
None |
Vaccination |
Influenza |
All |
Virus |
Signs are those of a cold |
None |
Reportable disease |
(Note: Avian flu–especially the H5N1 strain, which has become such a concern lately–falls into this category, but so far is limited to Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.) |
Infectious serositis, “new duck disease” |
All |
Bacteria: Pasteurella antipestifer |
Eye and nose discharge |
Sulfaquinoxaline, penicillin, steratomycin |
Bacterin available |
Newcastle disease |
Primarily ducks |
Virus |
Coughing, sneezing, with nervous system involved in severe cases |
None |
Vaccination |
Pullorum disease |
Chickens, turkeys, ducks |
Bacteria: Salmonella pullorum |
Symptoms inyoung poultry: listless, whitish diarrhea, do noteat |
None |
Control by testing of breeding flocks; eradication program; vaccination |
Pullorum disease |
Chickens |
Virus. One of the first cancers proven to be caused by a virus |
Paralysis, some- times only depression |
None |
Vaccination |
Rabbits
INFECTIOUS
DISEASE
CAUSE |
SYMPTOMS |
TREATMENT |
PREVENTION |
VIRAL DISEASES |
Infectious myxomatosis |
Virus; poxvirus |
Milky eye discharge; ear edema; nasal discharge |
None |
None |
BACTERIAL DISEASES |
Pasteurellosis, “Snuffles” |
Pasteurella multocida |
Thin, purulent nose and eye discharge |
None |
Recovered animals may become carriers |
Abscesses |
|
Abscess on any part of body |
None |
|
Mastitis (Bluebreasts) |
Staphylococci, Streptococci |
Hot, swollen mammary glands |
Penicillin variants |
Good sanitation |
Treponematosis, vent disease |
Spirochete: Treponema cuniculi |
Scabs and/or loss of fur in genital region |
Penicillin var., entire herd |
Do not use affected ani- mals for breeders |
Hutch burn, urine burn |
Wide range of possible organisms |
Similar parts affected as vent disease |
Antibiotic ointment; apply to affected parts |
Keep hutches clean and dry |
Enterotoxemia |
Clostridium spiroforme |
Sudden death |
Onset usually too rapid to treat |
Avoid diets too low in fiber |
Mucoid enteropathy |
Unknown |
Constipation |
None |
Oral fluids to overcome dehydration |
Tyzzer’s disease |
Bacillus piliformis |
Severe diarrhea |
None |
None |
PARASITIC DISEASES |
Coccidiosis: hepatic and intestinal |
Coccidia |
Young rabbits may be off feed, dull |
Sulfaquinoxoline in feed or water |
Good sanitation; avoid fecal contamination |
Ear mites |
Infestation |
Scratching at ear |
Clean ear withperox- ide, then use ear mite medicine |
Good sanitary practices |
MISCELLANEOUS CONDITIONS |
Wet dewlap (moist dermatitis) |
Various |
Inflammation of the dewlap |
Clip affected area-use antiseptic powder |
Useautomaticdewdrop valves; elevatedrinking dishes |
Hair chewing |
Perhaps low-fiber diet |
Chewing of fur |
Change to higher fiber diet |
High-fiber diet, e.g., good quality hay |
Hairballs |
Swallowing fur |
Indigestion, gagging |
None |
High fiber diet–mineral oil, etc. of no value |
Heat Exhaustion |
Overexposure to bright sunlight |
Heavy panting, elevated body temperature, and extreme lassitude |
Immerse severely affected rabbits in cold water |
Construct hutches to allow for good ventila- tion. Provide cold water and sprinkle hutches in hot weather. |
Sore hocks (ulcerative pododermatitis) |
Direct contact with wire mesh, especially in heavy breeds where there is an accumulation of urine-soaked feces. |
Raw, weeping sores on hind legs |
Difficult to treat. Affected animals should be culled. |
Keep hutches clean |
Malocclusion |
An inherited characteristic |
Failure of teeth to grind against each other, especially the incisors or front teeth. |
Affected teeth should be clipped off. |
Affected animals should not be used as breeders. |
Sheep
INFECTIOUS
DISEASE
CAUSE |
SYMPTOMS |
TREATMENT |
PREVENTION |
METABOLIC DISEASES Those caused by feed intake or stresses affecting all the body systems due to conditions such as lambing |
Grass staggers, grass tetany, hypomagne- semic tetany |
Low intake of magnesium; suddenly placing animals on lush pasture in the spring |
Erratic behavior after being put on lush pasture |
None |
Magnesium supplements to fertilize pastures; feed dry hay before turning out |
Parturient paresis |
Unknown |
Sudden onset 6-10 weeks prior to lambing, especially in heavy ewes: muscle tremors; stilted gait; down; death |
Calcium solution I.V. or under skin |
Good dietary management |
Photosensitization |
Light colored skin that has a hyperactive reaction to sunlight |
Reddening and fluid (edema) in the skin. |
Graze at night; steroids |
Affected animals should not be used as breeders |
Somebreedsofsheep(SouthdownsandCorriedales)haveadefectexistinginlivermetabolismthatpreventssubstancesthatpredis- posetheanimaltophotosensitizationfrombeingeliminatedintheusualway.Sheepofthesebreedsshowingthistraitshouldnotbe used asbreeders. |
White muscle disease |
Selenium deficiency |
Stiff gait, arched back unable to rise |
Selenium injections |
Selenium supplement in feed |
Pregnancy toxemia, ovine ketosis |
Any factor that disrupts feed intake in fat ewes carrying twins late in pregnancy |
Nervous signs, inability to get on their feet; coma |
Propylene glycol, steroids induce abortions, glucose |
Induce exercise; feed away from shelter; avoid stressful situations wherepossible |
INFECTIOUS BACTERIAL DISEASES |
Tetanus |
Bacteria: Clostridium tetani |
Often follows surgical procedures in early life; “saw-horse” appearance. |
None |
Administer tetanus antitoxin; later give toxoid |
Overeating disease |
Clostridium types C, D |
Sudden death, especially in weaned lambs on full feed |
No effective treatment |
Bacterin to those on full feed |
VIRAL DISEASES |
Bluetongue |
Bluetongue virus spread by biting flies |
Difficult breathing; reddening of muzzle, lips, ears; ulcer, erosions of mouth |
None |
Vaccine in affected areas only |
OPP (ovine progressive pneumonia) |
Retrovirus |
Very slowly progressing disease in mature animals; slow, wasting disease |
None |
Test and slaughter program; isolate lambs at birth, and feed milk from known-negative ewes |
Sore mouth, contagious ecthyma |
Poxvirus |
Lesions on lips, sometimes feet. |
None |
Recovered sheep highly resistant; vaccine available |
Scrapie (Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy) |
Prion (structure smaller than a virus) |
Loss of wool, intense itching, altered gait; loss of condition in sheep usually over 2 years |
None |
Test and slaughter |
“Black disease” (infectious necrotic hepatitis) |
Clostridium novyi |
Sudden death; toxin produced by organism, together with liver flukes, which have already damaged the liver. |
None |
Toxoid (vaccine) in fluke region |
Mastitis |
Often Streptococcus or Staphylococcus species |
Hot, swollen udder; Abnormal secretion |
None |
Antibiotics; hot packs; frequent stripping |
Strawberry foot rot |
Fungus (actinomycete): Dermatophilus congalensis |
Sores in lower leg |
Penicillin variants |
Self-limiting |
Scours |
Escherichia coli |
Profuse diarrhea in newborn |
Fluids to combat dehydration; antitoxemia drugs, antibiotics |
Dip navels in iodine; strict sanitation in lambing pens |
Joint ill |
Erysipelothis rhusiopathiae |
Swollen joints and some- times navel |
Penicillin variants |
Dip navels, strict clean- liness when castrating or docking |
PARASITIC DISEASES There are a wide range of parasites that affect sheep. Some invade various parts of the digestive tract while lungworms settle in the lungs. |
Goats
INFECTIOUS
DISEASE
CAUSE |
SYMPTOMS |
TREATMENT |
PREVENTION |
CAE (caprine arthri- tis and encephalitis) |
Lentivirus |
Encephalitis in young goats, arthritis in adults |
None |
Butazolidin in arthritic form; remove kids from doe immediately after birth and feed pasteurized colostrum |
Abscesses |
Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosi |
Abscess formation around head and neck. |
None |
|
Urinary calculi (esp. in petwethers) |
Metabolic imbalance |
Urinate with difficulty or not at all |
Surgery to create artificial opening |
Feed diet with calcium-phosphorus ratio of2:1;addammonium chloride to diets;keep magnesium levellow |
Mastitis |
Several different bacteria |
Abnormal milk ranging from watery to bloody |
Variety of antibiotic preparations infused into udder; may need to run antibiotic sensitivity test to determine the best choice |
Strict sanitation during the milking process; clean bedding and in general clean environment |
Goatsaresubjecttomuchthesamerangeofdiseasesasaresheep.Themanagementofthevariousconditionsfollowsthelinesfol- lowed insheep. |
Pigs
INFECTIOUS
DISEASE
CAUSE |
SYMPTOMS |
TREATMENT |
PREVENTION |
Metabolic and nutritional iron deficiency |
Milk naturally deficient in iron |
Symptoms of anemia |
None |
Administer iron to newborn by injection; keep sod in pen |
Hypoglycemia |
Any factor that limits piglets’ milk intake, especially during first week of life |
Low body temperature; listless; unresponsive |
Give glucose intraperitoneally |
Be sure sow has enough milk; that all piglets are getting their share; keep warm and dry |
MMA or Mastitis- metritusagalactia syndrome (lactation failure in sows) |
Not understood at this time, a complex interaction of many factors |
Piglets show signs of starvation; piglets depressed; increased temperatures; sows listless; refuse to let piglets nurse |
Corticosteroids and broadspectrum antibiotics |
Good management practices; place piglets on foster sow if available |
BACTERIA, SPIROCHETES, AND VIRUSES |
Bacterial brucellosis (a disease transmis- sible to man, especially when handling infected carcasses at slaughter) |
Brucella suis |
Abortion: temporary or permanent sterility: lameness |
None |
Test and slaughter |
Atrophic rhinitis |
A complex disease with many contributing factors |
Twisted snout may be end result |
Several drugs effective including trimethoprim, tylocin, and tetracycline |
Keeping a closed herd; good sanitation |
Enteric colibacillosis |
Escherichia coli |
Profuse watery diarrhea in young pigs |
Restore fluid level; antibiotics as determined by sensitivity, previous experience |
Avoid chilling and dampness; vaccinations of sows to increase level of necessary antibodies |
Enteritis |
Clostridium perfringens, Type C |
Bloody diarrhea in piglets, 1-5 days |
None |
Vaccination of pregnant sows is of some value to increase value of colostrum in affording protection
|
Edema |
Escherichia coli |
Disease of young pigs 5-14 days after weaning; rapid death; wobbly; paddling of legs; head twist |
Antibiotics may help |
Gradual change of feedfromcreepfeedto weaningration |
Erysipelas |
Erysipelothrix rhusipathiae |
Several different forms of this disease: (1) sudden death; high temperature, walking stiffly or remain lying down; (2) may show skin discolorations as “diamond skin disease”; (3) arthritis; (4) heart valve involvement |
Penicillin variants |
Vaccination |
Leptospirosis (may act as reservoir to cause infection in man) |
Leptospira pomona |
Abortions; being off feed; listlessness |
None |
Vaccinations |
Mycoplasma pneumonia
|
Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae |
Coughing, mild pneumonia; greatest problems: poor feed utilization and growth rate |
Tylocin, Tetracycline |
Establishment of disease-free herds |
Pleuropneumonia |
Haemophilus pleuropneumoniae |
May be very severe with sudden deaths, especially in young pigs; extremely difficult breathing; high fatality rate |
Several antibiotics have been suggested, including Tylocin and Trimethoprim |
All-in, all-out management (all pigs in a group introduced simultaneously into area where they will be raised and later removed simultaneously)
|
Salmonellosis |
Salmonella cholerasuis |
Nursing pigs have diarrhea but die from septicemia;olderpigshavebloody diarrhea |
Some antibiotics may be of value, but no drastic changes may be seen |
Intensive clean-up after outbreaks |
Swine dysentery |
Treponema hyodysenteriae (a spirochete) |
A mucous, bloody diarrhea is the most common symptom |
Do antibiotic sensitivity test and determine best antibiotic, which might include bacitracin, lincomycin, and others |
Good sanitation; treatment of carrier pigs |
Tuberculosis (a disease transmissable from animal to man) |
Mycobacterium species. Pigs are susceptible to three types: cattle, bird, and man |
Lymph gland involvement: a wasting disease |
None |
Good management (e.g. cleanliness, good ventilation) |
VIRUSES |
Hog cholera (no longer present in USA), now more properly called “classical swine fever” (CSF) |
DNA virus |
Lethargy; off feed; high temperature |
Hyperimmune serum |
Vaccinations not always effective; worldwide test-and-slaughter policy in effect for any animals that test positive |
Pseudorabies, “mad itch” |
Herpes virus. The pig acts as a reservoir for the virus, which is highly fatal in other species such as cattle and sheep |
In piglets, may see fever, trembling, convulsions; symptoms become progressively less severe as pig grows older |
None |
Bring in replacements from disease-free herds; segregation; isolation
|
Swine influenza, hog flu |
Type A influenza virus |
Rapidly spread throughout entire herd; high temperature; off feed; coughing; prostration |
None |
Good management with a stress-free environment |
TGE (transmissible gastroenteritis) |
Coronavirus |
Vomiting followed by profuse, watery diarrhea; highly fatal in very young pigs, much less so in older pigs |
None |
Vaccinations |
PARASITESThosewormsaffectingthestomachandintestinaltractofpigscanbecontrolledbythesametypesofmedicationsusedin otherspecies.Therearesomewormspeculiartoswinethatshouldbementioned. |
Kidney worm infestation |
Stephanurus dentatus |
Pigs tend to be “poor doers”; economic loss from contamination of affected organs and tissues |
None |
Maintain clean environtment; rotate stock to keep herd young through “gilts-only” breeding program. |
Trichinosis |
Trichanella spiralis |
Primarily a public health problem where insufficiently cooked, infected meat is eaten
|
None |
Garbage containing pork should be cooked at 212° F for 30 min- utes before being fed to swine, or not feed at all |
Calves
INFECTIOUS
DISEASE
CAUSE |
SYMPTOMS |
TREATMENT |
PREVENTION |
Colibacillosis |
Escherichia coli |
Diarrhea; dehydration; weakness; death |
Electrolytes, fluids, antibiotics |
Buy calves from reputable sources; avoid stress; keep isolated; draft-free, well ventilated housing (calf hutch excellent) |
Pneumonia |
Various bacteria and viruses |
Cough; difficulty breathing; off feed; fever |
Fluids, antibiotics |
|
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This excerpt is reprinted with permission from Backyard Livestock by Steven Thomas and George P. Looby, published by The Countryman Press, 2017.