1. Pullorum disease and Fowl Typhoid

2. Cause
Pullorum disease is caused by a bacterium, Salmonella pullorum (bacillary white diarrhea, BWD). Fowl typhoid is caused by Salmonella gallinarum, which is related to, but not identical to S. pullorum. Primarily affects chickens and turkeys.

3. Transmission
Pullorum and typhoid can be transmitted horizontally and vertically by infected (carrier) breeder hens through their eggs. Chickens that hatch from such infected eggs will have typical pullorum disease (white diarrhoea) and high mortality. Infected chickens can also infect other chicks via droppings. Fowl typhoid is more a disease of adult chickens, with high mortality and morbidity. Horizontal transmission is important with fowl typhoid through infected droppings, dead bird carcasses, and infected clothing, shoes, utensils and other fomites.

4. Species affected
Chickens and turkeys. Other birds such as quails, pheasants, ducks, peacocks and guinea fowl are susceptible.

5. Clinical signs
Birds hatched from S.pullorum or S. gallinarum infected eggs appear moribund or dead in the hatching trays and the young birds will show weakness, depressed appetite, poor growth and increased mortality. In older birds depression, diarrhea, ruffled feathers, pale shrunken combs and drop in egg production and increased mortality will be observed. Morbidity and mortality can be highly variable (mortality can reach 25-60%)

6. Lesions:- Pullorum/Typhoid
In chicks:
Acute Cases:
Septicemic lesions of omphalitis with persistent yolk sac (contain creamy or caseated material.
Liver is enlarged, friable and with necrotic foci.
Catarrhal enteritis with white diarrhea.
Peritonitis, necrotic typhlitis, pericarditis, splenitis, pneumonia, synovitis, nephritis and opthalmitis.
Chronic cases: Pale yellow nodulesin myocardium, intestine and gizzard.

7. Lesions:- Pullorum/Typhoid
In adults:
Oophoritis (hemorrhagic or atrophied), salpingitis, peritonitis (ascites), and orchitis
The liver is enlarged, bronzy color (hemosiderosis) and show necrotic foci (typhoid)
Enteritis (ulcerative duodenitis).
Grayish nodules in the lungs, liver, intestine heart, gizzard, spleen.

8. Treatment
Treatment with antibiotics of pullorum/fowl typhoid disease will not cure but reduce clinical signs and is undesirable from a standpoint of eradication. It is far more practical to control the disease by elimination of infected carrier breeder hens. Blood testing (monitoring) of breeder chickens by the serum plate or tube agglutination test with suitable S. pullorum antigen will detect infected carrier birds which can then be culled. Such control measures will stop the incidence of egg-transmitted pullorum disease/fowl typhoid. If hatching eggs from tested pullorum-free breeders are kept free from contamination through infected eggs from infected breeders or through contaminated equipment, chickens can remain carrier after treatment.

9. Control
Monitoring and eradication in breeders is the preferred control method. For layers vaccination against fowl typhoid with a special S. gallinarum (9R strain) has been practiced in several countries.

10. Picture 1

11. Picture 2

12. Picture 3

13. Picture 4

14. Picture 5

15. Picture 6

16. Picture 7

17. Picture 8

18. Picture 9

19. Picture 10

20. Picture 1

21. Picture 2

22. Picture 3

23. Picture 4

24. Picture 5

25. Picture 6

26. Picture 7

27. Picture 8

28. Picture 9

29. Picture 10