Duck foot pad swelling can cause death; how to prevent and control it scientifically

    Duck foot pad swelling is a bacterial infectious disease caused by Staphylococcus aureus. This pathogen hides on the body surface of animals and in the external environment, and it multiplies rapidly in warm, humid and harsh conditions. When ducks are infected with Staphylococcus aureus, foot pad swelling commonly occurs.

Duck

    Pathogen and epidemiology.Staphylococcus aureus mainly causes infection through damaged skin and mucous membranes in ducks. Foot pad swelling occurs at a high rate in adult breeder duck flocks, especially larger-bodied breeder ducks. Other causes of foot pad swelling include: sharp foreign objects in duck house pens and exercise yards that cause foot injuries to ducks; poor water quality in duck farms, and other conditions that favor massive multiplication of Staphylococcus aureus.

    Symptoms and lesions.Ducks infected with foot pad swelling are depressed, have reduced appetite, decreased egg production, and lameness. The hock joint, foot pad and web are swollen, with cracked skin and exudation of pus and blood-tinged fluid. Sometimes the pathogen spreads to other parts of the duck's body and causes septicemic infection, and the affected ducks eventually die from acute onset of the disease.

    Prevention and control measures

    1. Remove sharp foreign objects from the site in a timely manner to avoid causing trauma to ducks.

    2. Keep the duck farm clean and hygienic. Regularly use non-toxic, low-irritation disinfectants such as 0.3% peracetic acid for spray disinfection to inhibit massive multiplication of Staphylococcus aureus. At the same time, the water bodies on the duck farm should also be disinfected.

    3. When duck foot pad swelling occurs, antibacterial drugs can also be used for treatment, such as tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, and norfloxacin, at a dosage of 0.06-0.1%, mixed into feed and fed to the whole duck flock for 4-5 days. At the same time, for ducks with obvious symptoms, penicillin or gentamicin can be injected for treatment, with dosages of 40,000-50,000 units of penicillin and 10,000-20,000 units of gentamicin per kg of duck body weight, injected once a day for 3-5 consecutive days.

    4. For duck farms where foot pad swelling frequently occurs, if conditions permit, isolate the pathogenic Staphylococcus aureus from the farm, prepare an inactivated vaccine against the farm's Staphylococcus aureus, and carry out immunization.