Department of Agriculture

AGRICULTURAL TRAINING INSTITUTE

Elliptical Rd., Diliman, Quezon City

BROILER

DISEASES
An acute rapidly spreading
respiratory disease characterized
by harsh breathing, coughing,
sneezing
and often followed by nervous
manifestation.

Cause
Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) -
a paramyxovirusm

Transmission
• Direct contact with infected broiler.
• Contaminated farm equipment, feed,or water.
• Farm personnel and visitors with contaminated clothing and
footwear.
• Free-living birds, (e.g. sparrows) and imported exotic
psitacccine birds which are often carriers of NDV.

Symptoms
• Drop in feed intake.
• Respiratory signs such as gasping, coughing, sneezing, rales,
nasal discharge, often followed by neurologic signs e.g.
incoordination, leg and/or wing paralysis, twisting of the
neck and head.
• Marked variation in morbidity, mortality, signs and lesions
due to the degree of chicken susceptibility and virus
pathogenicity.

Prevention
• Vaccinate healthy flocks with live, attenuated virus vaccine.
• Thoroughly clean and disinfect farm equipment and premises.
• Bird-proof poultry houses.
• As soon as NCD disease outbreak is suspected, quarantine
farm and isolate sick chickens from healthy ones.
• Supportive medication with broad-spectrum antibiotic in
drinking water may be of value to prevent or reduce severity
of the secondary bacterial infection.
• Depopulate and thoroughly clean and disinfect premises,
especially after a disease outbreak.
 A highly contagious
disease primarily affecting
broiler chickens between 2 and
6 weeks of age, characterized
by edema and swelling of the
cloacal bursa resulting in
marked immunosuppression.

Cause
Infectious bursal desease virus
(IBDV) - a birnavirus

Transmission
• Direct contact with
infected chickens.
• Fecal-contaminated feed, water, and equipment.
• Poorly cleaned poultry house and premises.
• Transported from farm to farm by wild birds, rodents, and
insects.

Symptoms
• Droopy appearance, ruffled feathers, marked depression, and
lack of appetite.
• Diarrhea, soiled vent and trembling due to dehydration.
• Chickens tend to pick at their vent.

Prevention
• Vaccinate with intermediate live vaccine.
• Strict sanitation is required. Thoroughly clean and disinfect
poultry houses and equipment with iodophore-based
disinfectant.
• Practice all-in-all-out system of operation and allow a rest
period of at least 30 days between batches.
 A virus infection
characterized by formation of
scab-like lesions on the skin of the
legs and head and/or formation of
yellowish membranous plaques on
the mucuos membrane of the oral
and pharyngeal cavity.

Cause
Avipox virus

Transmission
• Direct contact with infected broilers.
• Mosquitoes and other blood-sucking
flies through their bites.

Symptoms
• Dry/Skin form: papules, vesicles, pustules, and scab-like
lesions on the unfeathered skin of the head and legs.
• Wet/Diptheritic form: raised, yellow plaques on mucuous
membranes of mouth and pharynx which may induce lack
of appetite and difficulty in breathing.

Prevention
• Vaccinate broilers in areas where the disease is common
with pigeon or chicken pox virus strains.
• If disease outbreak occurs, broad-spectrum antibiotic in
drinking water is advisable to prevent aggravating secondary
bacterial infection.
 A highly contagious
respiratory disease of chickens
characterized by rapid spread,
respiratory signs without
nervous system involvement.

Cause
Infectious bronchitis virus
(IBV)
- a coronavirus A young chick with respiratory symptoms
of IB
Transmission
• Air-borne or aerosol transmission,
direct contact with sick birds.
• Contaminated feed, water, equipment, and premises.

Symptoms
• Gasping, coughing, tracheal rales, and nasal discharge.
• Chicks appear depressed and huddle under the heat source.
• Poor appetite.

Prevention
• Vaccinate broilers with live attenuated virus vaccine in areas
where the disease is common.
• Practice sanitation and sound management practices.
 An acute respiratory
disease of chickens generally
limited to the upper respiratory
tract. Also known as Roup or
Cold, this disease is considered to
be of economic importance in
many parts of the world.

Cause
Bacterium: Hemophilus
paragallinarum (sero-types A, B, C).
A broiler suffering from Coryza
Transmission
• Direct contact with infected birds/recovered carrier birds.
• Airborne
• Contaminated feeds or water, equipment, and premises.

Symptoms
• Water discharge from the eyes and nostrils which later
becomes sticky, thick, and odorous.
• Swelling of the face and eyelids.
• Sneezing, respiratory rales, and snicking.
• Decreased feed intake.

Prevention
• Follow an all-in-all-out type of operation.
• Provide good ventilation to reduce ammonia fume.
• Follow strict sanitation and sound management practices.
• Medicate with broad-spectrum antibiotics after stressful
conditions, e. g. vaccination and weighing.
• Avoid overcrowding.
 A septicemia
frequently occuring as
secondary to respiratory and
other infections.

Cause
Bacterium - Eschericha coli

Transmission
• Inhalation of infected dust.
• Fecal-contaminated feeds
or water and equipment.
• Unsanitary poultry houses and premises.

Symptoms
• Symptoms vary according to portal of entry and syndrome
induced.
• In chicks:Omphalitis (navel infection) - inflamed navel,
distended abdomen due to yolk sac infection; abnormal color
and smell of yolk sac content; depressed chicks.
• Enteritis - watery dropping, depression, inflamed intestinal
tract.
• Air sacculitis - thickened air sacs with yellow, cheesy exudate,
pericarditis, perihepatitis, and peritonitis.

Prevention
• Avoid predisposing conditions such as overcrowding, poor
ventilation, high ammonia level, and poor brooding
management.
• Apply preventive medication with broad-spectrum antibiotics
in the drinking water during certain critical and stressful
periods in the chickens’ life.
• Follow strict sanitation in the farm and hatchery.
• Chlorinate drinking water if positive for E. coli.
 An acute
septicemic disease
similar to pullorum which
can cause extremely high
early chick mortality.

Cause
Bacteria: Salmonella
organisms other than S.
pullorum and S.
gallinarum
Weak bird with ruffled feathers and pasty vent
shows nervous signs and lameness manifestations
Transmission
• Fecal contamination of eggshells during the process of laying or
from contaminated nests, litter, or incubators
leading to infection at hatching time.
• Fecal contamination of feeds or feed ingredients, water, and
equipment.
• Rodents and their droppings may readily contaminate poultry
feeds.
• Pigeons, sparrows, and other species of wild birds may serve as
source of infection.

Symptoms
• Chicks are chilled and huddle for warmth.
• Weakness, ruffled feathers, loss of appetite, and increased water
consumption.
• Watery diarrhea with pasting of the vent.
• Moderate to high mortality.

Prevention
• Observe sound management practices.
• Reduce contact with rodents, wild birds, and flies.
• Observe strict hatchery and egg sanitation.
• Use Salmonella-free stock and only Salmonella-free feed
ingredients.
• Use of broad-spectrum antibiotics or nitrofurans in feed or
drinking water as a preventive medication.
Cause
Myxovirus

Transmission
Airborne virus particles from
the respiratory tract,
droppings, and people
carrying virus on their
clothing and equipment.

Clinical signs
• Clinical signs may vary,
AI-affected heart and proventriculus
depending on the type of
influenza virus.
• Swelling of the head and neck, swollen
sinuses with nasal discharge can be seen
with respiratory involvement.
• Mortality is usually low but Fowl plague, also an avian
influenza, causes high mortality in turkeys and chickens.

Diagnosis
• A laboratory diagnosis is necessary by serological [agar gel
precipitation (AGP)] or virological methods (virus isolation).
• Avian influenza can be confused with Newcastle Disease, fowl
pox, Mycoplasma infection, Staphylococcus, or other
respiratory or systemic infections.

Treatment and control

There is no treatment for avian influenza. Antibiotics will help
prevent secondary bacterial infections. No vaccine is available.
 Also called as
the Bacillary White
Diarrhea, this acute
bacterial disease of
chicks causing high
mortality, especially
during the first 3
weeks of age.

Cause
Bacterium:
Salmonella pullorum
S. pullorum-infected chicks
Transmission
• Egg transmitted, i. e. from hen
to progeny chicks.
• Fecal-contaminated feed, water, and equipment.
• Contact with infected chicks and contaminated hatchery
incubators and equipment.

Symptoms
• Chicks appear sleepy, weak and anorexic.
• Chicks chirp continuously and have pasty white diarrhea.
• High mortality during the first 3 weeks of life.
• Some respiratory signs, e.g. labored breathing.

Prevention
• Purchase chicks only from reliable sources, i. e. pullorum-free
breeder farms and hatcheries.
• Strictly observe sanitation.
• Avoid stress conditions.
• Medication with broad-spectrum antibiotics or nitrofurans in
feed or drinking water during the first 3 weeks of life may
lower mortality and transmission of disease.
Cause
From a virus belonging to the herpes
type group; only one serotype is
known.

Transmission
• Field infection occurs from bird
to bird by the respiratory
route.
• Outbreaks are traced to
transmission by fomites (visitors,
shoes, clothing, egg boxes, used
feeders, waterers, cages, crates, etc.).
• Incubation period varies from 4 to 12 days.

Clinical signs
• Respiratory distress due to build up of blood, sloughed tracheal
lining, and even causeous exudate in larynx and trachea.
• Affected chickens will have extreme difficulty in breathing
(“pump handle” breathing) and will die from suffocation.
• Conjunctivitis and respiratory sounds like wheezing can be
observed, with little or no mortality in such cases. The disease
spreads through a chicken house more slowly than either IB or
ND.

Diagnosis
• Spreading of respiratory distress, with possible coughing up of
blood and mortality.
• Bloody mucus and cheesy exudate can be found in larynx and
trachea.
• In a laboratory, a definite diagnosis can be made by histologic
examination of tracheal tissues or virus isolation from tracheal
mucus in embryonated chicken eggs.

Treatment and control

Vaccination with mild eye-drop vaccine is by far the best control
method. Sometimes such vaccines are applied by drinking water or
spray methods with variable success. Even when an outbreak of ILT
has been detected in a chicken flock, immediate vaccination is
advisable to stop the spread of infection.
 A lingering disease
which affects the respiratory
tract and air sacs. It is
characterized by slow
growth, poor feed
conversion, and inferior
carcass quality.

Left: Normal heart

Cause
Right: CRD-affected heart
Pleuopneumonia-like organism:
Mycoplasma gallisepticum

Transmission
• Often triggered by stresses such as high ammonia
level, poor ventilation, overcrowding, vaccination,
concurrent infection with NCD, IBV, or E. coli.
• Egg transmitted from parent to progeny chicks.
• Direct contact with infected birds.
• Air-borne transmission.
• Contaminated feed, water, farm equipment, and personnel.
Symptoms
• Respiratory rales, coughing, sneezing, oculonasal discharge
• Decreased feed efficiency and growth rate.
• Mortality is low, unless complicated by air sacculitis with
E. coli.

Prevention
• Practice an all-in-all-out system of operation.
• Thoroughly clean and disinfect poultry houses and
equipment after removal of infected flock.
• Avoid stresses such as ammonia fumes, poor ventilation,
overcrowding, high temperature, and marginal nutrition.
• Apply medication with antibiotics specific against
mycoplasma, e. g. tiamulin, in the feeds or drinking water.
 A disease caused by
protozoan parasites called
coccidia which enter,
multiply, and destroy the
cells lining the intestinal
tract.

Cause
Cecal coccidiosis
- Eimeria tenella E. tenella infection
Intestinal coccidiosis
- E. acervulina, E. necatrix,
E. maxima and other species

Transmission
• Ingestion of sporulated oocyst in fecal-contaminated
feed, water and litter.
• Mechanical transmission by contaminated footwear
and farm equipment.
• Mechanical carriers such as rodents, flies, beetles, and
wild birds.

Symptoms
• Symptoms vary greatly depending on the severity of the
infection and species of Eimeria.
• Depression, ruffled feathers, loss of appetite.
• Blood-stained feces (cecal coccidiosis).
• Decreased feed efficiency and growth rate.

Prevention
• Apply medication with coccidiostat in the feed or drinking
water.
• Observe strict sanitation.
• Provide foot-bath with disinfectant at the entrance of poultry
houses.
• Change or remove damp litter, especially during brooding.