Detailed Explanation of the Symptoms and Prevention and Treatment Methods of Fowl Pox

Fowl pox is a contagious, viral infectious disease and a common disease of chickens. It mostly occurs in summer and autumn. In environments with high temperature and high humidity and many mosquitoes, it spreads extremely quickly through mosquito bites. So how should fowl pox be prevented and treated? Let's take a look at the detailed introduction below from Qinnong Net.

1. Symptoms of fowl pox

Fowl pox is a viral infectious disease. After invasion, it incubates on chickens for about a week. According to its symptoms and the location of the disease, it can be divided into three types: cutaneous type, diphtheritic type, and mixed type.

Cutaneous type: It occurs in seasons when mosquitoes are rampant. The lesions are located in bare and sparsely feathered areas, such as the head, eyes, and nose of chickens. When the disease occurs, wart-like pox spots appear. As the disease progresses, these small pox spots rapidly enlarge, turn yellow, and combine with surrounding pox spots to form large scabs. It is less harmful and has a low mortality rate. When the disease is severe, the chickens are listless and have reduced appetite. If scabs form around the eyes, they can cause blindness in the chickens.

Diphtheritic type: This type mainly occurs in cold winter weather. The lesions are located in the mouth, throat, and other places. Small pox spots also grow in the mouth and throat, then gradually spread and combine, forming a layer of yellow-white cheesy material on the mucous membrane, so it is called chicken diphtheria. If this pseudomembrane is torn off, ulcerative lesions appear underneath. It affects the breathing and feeding of sick chickens, often leading to difficulty in feeding after illness, weight loss, poor growth, and death in severe cases.

Mixed type: The mixed type is when both types of symptoms occur together, and the mortality rate is extremely high.

Prevention methods

Fowl pox is a common disease. The best preventive method is vaccination. After vaccination with live fowl pox vaccine, good preventive effects can be achieved. At the same time, environmental sanitation should also be done well, mosquitoes and similar insects should be eliminated in a timely manner, and the route of transmission should be cut off. In addition, sick chickens should be isolated promptly when found, and the site should be thoroughly disinfected.

Treatment methods

There is currently no specific drug treatment for fowl pox. If a large flock of chickens is affected, antiviral drugs can be mixed into the feed and fed for 3-5 consecutive days to cure it. An appropriate amount of heat-clearing and detoxifying drugs can also be added to prevent secondary infection. For chickens with more severe illness, for the cutaneous type, the pox scabs can be removed with tweezers, and then disinfectant can be applied to the wound. For the diphtheritic type, the pseudomembrane should be removed and taken out, and then some detoxifying drugs should be sprinkled on. It can heal after 2-3 consecutive days. If it grows around the eyes and affects the chicken's vision, injection treatment can be adopted, and injecting detoxifying agents is sufficient.

The above is the symptoms and prevention and treatment methods of fowl pox brought to you by Qinnong Net. The content about fowl pox is introduced here. I believe everyone now understands its symptoms and prevention and treatment methods. For more information, please stay tuned to Qinnong Net.