Salmonella in hens is quite common. This is the name of the infectious disease that affects all domestic animals, in particular pigs, chickens and chickens, which have recently been born. Such diseases occur periodically and cause damage to farms. Chickens that have been exposed to salmonellosis develop poorly. If a salmonella virus is found in meat in adults, after tasting raw eggs, a person can become infected with this disease.
The causative agent in the form of a curved stick was first isolated by American veterinarians Salmon and Smith from the organs of diseased pigs: they called the causative agent of this disease paratyphoid, but at a later time the stick was named in honor of its discoverer.
Description of the virus
The great danger of infection lies in the fact that infected animals pose a threat to humans. The gastrointestinal tract is mainly affected by the infection, the intestinal virus attacks, which produces pathological changes and complex types of disorders.
Through the entry of pathogens into the blood from poultry, there is often a threat of blood poisoning, or septicemia, with the release of pyogenic microorganisms and their waste products, toxins, into the blood. As a side effect, the disease often gives complications in the form of pneumonia and arthritic joint damage. To better understand the extent of the disease, it is advisable to look at the photos and videos showing the diseased individuals and compare their images with real ones.
Pathogen
The causative agent of the disease is salmonella enterobacteria , which is divided into subgroups of enteric and bongori. One bacterium is similar to a small curved match, which has sufficient mobility, does not produce spores and capsules and belongs to the group that receives energy in a medium lacking oxygen. Such bacteria almost do not resist antiseptics, but die from the effects of chemicals in an hour. Outside the body, salmonella can be active for a long time.
- in the soil and heaps of manure can exist up to 10 months;
- in the aquatic environment – up to 4;
- in the dust particles of residential premises – up to 18 months;
- in smoked or salted meat of infected animals and birds – up to 3 months;
- in frozen form – up to 5 months.
When cooked, the stick dies within 15 minutes.
Varieties of Salmonella bacteria
Famous Salmonella bacilli are subdivided:
- Gallinarum – pulorum, which is manifested in young chickens with gastrointestinal tract disorders and symptoms of blood poisoning . The disease is acute, but if left untreated, it becomes chronic. The causative agent is transmitted to the offspring and can infect humans through eggs that have not undergone heat treatment.
- Enteritidis infects young individuals and leads to the death of a fifth of the livestock. In mature chickens, it passes with almost no symptoms, but they remain carriers of the infection for the rest of their lives.
Infection occurs through the use of contaminated water or food: the stick enters first part of the small, then large intestine. Then it moves through the lymphatic system through the blood stream, causing its infection. Such a lesion is the most common at home farm. Influencing by a stick in the intestine, liver and kidneys, inflammatory processes begin, which provoke hemorrhage and death of organ cells.
In rarer cases, the uterus, brain and joints of the bird are affected by internal bleeding. In parallel, the process of blood poisoning occurs, and the whole body is poisoned with toxins, dangerous poisons, which secrete a salmonella bacillus in the process of life. Sometimes poisoning can be observed in broilers or chickens.
When a person is infected, it doesn’t matter, children or adults, the presence of the virus should be determined, and if the diagnosis is confirmed, treatment should be prescribed only by a doctor.
Stages and symptoms of the disease
Salmonellosis is dangerous from the first days of infection. The latent period of infection in children, adults, or chickens before the first symptoms can occur in the period of 7 days, when, for example, the bird was infected by food or water. If a bird gets infected by air, signs of damage appear within a day. Depending on which organ (group of organs) is affected by salmonella, the type of disease is determined:
- Ultra-sharp is fatal to chickens that just hatched: they die a few hours after birth.
- From the acute phase of the disease, chickens die before 10 days of age. They move a little, refuse food, suffer from diarrhea and paralysis. This phase resembles poisoning in chickens.
- The chronic disease does not differ in pronounced signs. The disease manifests itself by a decrease in physical activity, an upset stomach and an increase in body temperature.
- When the disease affects the intestines, it can be detected by bloody droppings, which glosses over the plumage.
- When the joint is the joints swell and make it difficult for the chicken to walk, its legs are trembling. This form of the disease ends with paralysis and complete failure of the leg muscles and wing muscles.
- A lesion by a bacterium of the nervous system is rarely recorded, but leads to complete paralysis of the bird, which lies in an unnatural position, it can no longer be helped. Such an individual should be immediately isolated from the pack and put to death.
Examination of the carcass of the chicken after death
Examination of the carcasses that died from salmonella shows damage to numerous internal organs and articular joints. Even in meat, the virus can persist for some time to come. This can only be detected if there is a disease. In sexually mature chickens, yolk follicles are reborn, which are gradually filled with fluid. In the gallbladder itself, the mucous membrane turns red and swells significantly, it is filled with an unpleasant olive-colored liquid and a purulent smell.
Intestinal cells begin to die in large quantities, a large amount of fibrin appears, the clots of which become the basis for the formation of a blood clot. Fibrin is also fixed in the chest cavity, so a large number of various seals appear there. Also, the heart muscle is incredibly stretched, and the circulatory vessels are full of blood.
Diagnosis of the disease
To prescribe some medications for treatment, a diagnosis is made. To do this, you need to invite a veterinarian to take a general blood test from chickens, assess the situation, process the indications of symptoms and conduct studies of the pathogen paratyphoid.For laboratory research, the liver, spleen, kidneys and lungs, pancreas and thyroid gland are sent. There, the obtained cells are placed in a special environment for reproduction and the resulting bacterial colonies are studied.
Determine how resistant different types of bacteria are to different antibiotics , to help the veterinarian choose the most effective antibiotic for the successful elimination of salmonella. Each drug is prescribed for each individual individually. The dose of the drug is prescribed based on the condition of the bird, the stage of the disease and its general state of health. It is not worthwhile to independently conduct antibiotic treatment or to be vaccinated. All preparations and vaccines should be prescribed only by a veterinarian exclusively for each chicken separately.
Treatment
Treatment of salmonellosis in birds is effective only at the initial stage, it is treated with Colmik-E antibiotics. Chickens more severe symptoms are discarded and destroyed, since in this case the treatment is not effective healthy chicken representatives are subjected to preventive treatment by adding drugs to feed and water, as well as disinfecting the chicken coop . In order to prevent the development of such a disease in the future, it is necessary to constantly monitor the birds, and if the first signs of salmonellosis become apparent, you need to sooner proceed with treatment.
A vaccine against the disease should be given at home. You can only put drugs that are prescribed by the veterinarian. Most often, the doctor’s arsenal has antitoxic, polyvalent serum. If it is noticeable that the chickens are so weak that they are not able to move around, it is necessary to put them in a separate pen for the duration of treatment so as not to spread the infection.
For prevention:
- treat feed and water with antibiotics;
- establish sanitary inspection rooms to prevent infection in utility rooms;
- observe the hygiene of nests and eggs that were loaded into the incubator;
- strictly comply with all the rules and the deadlines for loading eggs into the incubator , disposing of incubated eggs by burning;
- consistently disinfect incubator;
- freshly hatched chickens are given probiotics during the first meal.
Boria and manifestations of Salmonella
Taking into account that often the disease hidden symptoms and chickens after recovering for life are carriers of salmonella, should frequently inspect the flock, to quickly identify the disease, otherwise it is possible to have prevented the emergence of a mass outbreak. It is necessary to observe the behavior and character of each individual. At the first stage of infection, chickens can change their behavior and old habits, most often individuals refuse to eat. Such symptoms may indicate other diseases , but after detecting suspicious behavior, you should continue to monitor the birds and invite a veterinarian to make a diagnosis.
In the initial stage, the disease is easier and more effective to treat, but prevention should be carried out regularly.Often, blood should be taken from the livestock to be examined for salmonella infection, and in case of a positive reaction, immediately send the bird to the slaughter and carry out a complete disinfection of the chicken coop. If the disease is detected in more than half of the livestock, all birds are destroyed.
A flock is considered successful if studies show positive results in no more than 10% of the inhabitants of the chicken coop.
Salmonella is a serious chicken disease that can lead to human infection. Prevention prevents salmonella infection and is the reason why there are almost no epidemics in the flock, and with the disease, the bird dies from internal bleeding, joint swelling and paralysis.
