Pullorum Disease

Introduction

Disease caused by one of the two poultry-adapted strains of Salmonella bacteria, Salmonella Pullorum, this usually only causes mortality in birds up to 3 weeks of age. Occasionally it can cause losses in adult birds, usually brown-shell egg layers. It affects chickens most commonly, but also infects turkeys, game birds, guinea fowls, sparrows, parrots, ring doves, ostriches and peafowl. It still occurs worldwide in non-commercial poultry but is now rare in most commercial systems.

Morbidity is 10-80%; mortality is increased in stressed or immunocompromised flocks and may be up to 100%. The route of infection is oral or via the navel/yolk. Transmission may be transovarian or horizontal mainly in young birds and may sometimes be associated with cannibalism. The bacterium is fairly resistant to normal climate, surviving months but is susceptible to normal disinfectants.

Other Names

Bacillary white diarrhoea 

Organism

Salmonella Pullorum 

Signs

Inappetance.
Depression.
Ruffled feathers.
Closed eyes.
Loud chirping.
White diarrhoea.
Vent pasting.
Gasping.
Lameness.
Dejection.
Loss of appetite and thirst.
Closed eyes
Signs are generally mild compared to host-specific salmonellae, or absent.

Post-mortem lesions

Grey nodules in lungs, liver, gizzard wall and heart.
Intestinal or caecal inflammation.
Splenomegaly.
Caecal cores.
Urate crystals in ureters.

Diagnosis

Isolation and identification. In clinical cases direct plating on Brilliant Green and McConkey agar may be adequate. Enrichment media such as buffered peptone followed by selective broth or semi-solid media (e.g. Rappaport-Vassiliadis) followed by plating on two selective media will greatly increase sensitivity. However this has the potential to reveal the presence of salmonellae that are irrelevant to the clinical problem under investigation. Differentiate from Pullorum/Typhoid, other enterobacteria.
Differentiate from Typhoid, Paratyphoid, paracolon, other enterobacteria, chilling and omphalitis

Management Treatment

Eradication from breeder flocks. As with other salmonellae, recovered birds are resistant to the effects of infection but may remain carriers. Vaccines are not normally used as they interfere with serological testing and elimination of carriers.

Uninfected breeders, clean nests, fumigate eggs, all-in/all-out production, good feed, competitive exclusion, care in avoiding damage to natural flora, elimination of resident infections in hatcheries, mills, breeding and grow-out farms. Routine monitoring of breeding flocks, hatcheries and feed mills is required for effective control. Infection results in a strong immune response manifest by progressive reduction in excretion of the organism and reduced disease and excretion on subsequent challenge.Good management. Chemotherapy can prolong carrier status in some circumstances.

Physical Treatment

Amoxycillin, poteniated sulponamide, tetracylines, fluoroquinolones, Sulphonamides, neomycin, tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones.

Homeopathic Treatment

If birds huddle together & exhibit a White foamy diarrhoea give Calc carb+Cala phos

In Adult birds loss of appetite, weakness, greenish brown dirrhoea give Sulphur, Ipecac

Photo Gallery 

Pullorum disease is an acute systemic disease in chickens and turkey poults. The infection is trans¬mitted with eggs and is commonly characterized by a white diarrhoea and high death rate, whereas adult birds are asymptomatic earners. The morbidity and the mortality rates increase about the 7th - 10th day after hatching. The affected chickens appear somnolent, depressed and their growth is retarded. The feathers around the vent in many chickens is stained with diarrhoeic faeces or pasted with dry faeces.

Acute fowl typhoid. The outbreaks usually begin with a sharp decline in forage consumption and egg production. The fertilization and hatchability rates are considerably reduced. Diarrhoea appears. The death rate in acute fowl typhoid is high and varies between 10% and 90%. About 1/3 of chickens hatched from eggs from typhoid-infected flocks die. A characteristic lesion for acute fowl typhoid in adult birds is the enlarged and bronze greenish tint of liver.

Ureters are often filled with urates. For confirmation of the diagnosis, 5. pullorum should be isolated and typed. Pullorum disease must be differentiated from other salmonelloses, E. coli infections, Aspergillus that produces similar pulmonary lesions. Staphylococcus aureus, causing arthrites etc. Sometimes, the pulmonary nodes resemble the tumours in Marek's disease.





Chronic fowl typhoid. The lesions are primarily in the gonads. The ovaries are affected by inflammatory and degenerative changes.