Fowl pox

Fowlpox is caused by Avipoxvirus genus Poxviridae family (a large DNA virus) the disease can be transmitted from virus carrier to naive poultry through wounds or spread virus to a nearby poultry house.

1. Etiology
Fowlpox is caused by Avipoxvirus genus Poxviridae family (a large DNA virus)
the disease can be transmitted from virus carrier to naive poultry through wounds or spread virus to a nearby poultry house.
2. Symptoms
Incubation period is about 4-10 days. The disease can occurs in cutaneous form or diphtheritic form or mixed form. The dry form ( cutaneous form) of fowlpox is characterized by nodular lesions on various parts of the unfeathered skin of chickens such as the comb, wattles, and beak margin, eye margin, contiguous zone to epidermis and other areas that have less feathers such as inside wing, around the anus and leg skin. Nodular lesions grandually change from white to dark yellow colour. Nodules in eyelid of chicken cause conjunctivitis, ocular discharge, and nodules in nasal corner leads to obsstruction of the nostrils so the chickens manifest dyspnea, nodules in the mouth causing chickens pain and anorexia .
The wet forrm (diphtheritic form ): This can often occur in chicks. Chicks manifest dyspnea, depression, anorexia, purulent and mucus discharge with pseudomembrance from the mouth. Mucosa of the tongue and corners of the mouth, round the mouth, mucous membrances of the pharynx, larynx and throat are covered with grayish yellow pseudomembrance when this membrance is sloughed, leaving the mucous membrance in bright red colour. In severe case the pupil is ruptured with pus, resulting in blindness.of chickens
The mortality rate of affected chickens is 5-12%, if coupled with other diseases, the mortality rate is higher .

Dark brown nodules appear on chicken face

3. Prevention:
-FOWLPOX vaccine is S.C given under the wing conforrming the schedules recommended by the manufacturer in chickens at 7 days of age. To increase effectiveness of fowl pox vaccine, antibiotics should not be orally or parenterally administered at about 1 day before and 3 days after vaccination.
4.Treatment:
Therre is no specific treatment for the disease, only vaccination can be performed for prevention or when epidemic occurs, disinfectants should be sprayed to kill germs, spray from 3-5 times per week, then in the chickens with severe disease, open the nodullar lesions,methylene blue is topically administered on nodullar lesions. Broad-spectrum antibiotics against the second infection such as E.coli infection, pullorum disease, coughing, coccidiosis. and a good tonic to enhance the resistance, of chickens to viruses as follows:
Method 1: Combination of AMOX-COLIS and HERBAL MARPHASOL is administered
Method 2 : Admistration of MARPHAMOX 50% combined with 39-VITA-AMIN.