Aerobic bacterial flora from dead-in-shell chicken embryos from Nigeria

Dead-in-shell chicken embryos from two commercial hatcheries in Anambra State of Nigeria were investigated for isolation of aerobic bacteria. For this purpose, 79 pooled samples containing 632 dead-in-shell chicken embryos were cultured. From these samples, 23 isolates of Escherichia coli and 25 isolates of Staphylococcus aureus were recorded. Other bacterial species isolated included Micrococcus sp. (fifteen isolates), Klebsiella sp. (thirteen isolates), Pseudomonas sp. (nine isolates), and Proteus sp. (seven isolates). Salmonella, Streptococcus, and Mycoplasma spp. could not be isolated. A high incidence of pathogenic strains of bacteria from dead-in-shell chicken embryos was observed. This suggests that the isolates may have contributed to the embryonic mortality and reduced hatchability recorded in the farms investigated.     

Prevalence of malaria parasites in turkeys of the Nsukka area in the Anambra State, Nigeria.

Blood smears of 202 turkeys (94 males and 108 females) in the Nsukka area (Nigeria) were examined for malaria parasites. Among the turkeys examined 44.1% (95% confidence interval, 0.441 +/- 0.069) were infected with Plasmodium spp., 46.8% males and 41.7% females. A total of 175 adults and 27 growing turkeys (aged 6-16 weeks) were examined and 45.7 and 33.3%, respectively were infected. Twenty out of 60 reared turkeys under intensive management systems and 65 of 142 turkeys managed semi-intensively were infected. The mean PCV value for the infected turkeys was 29.95 +/- 3.36% and significantly different (P less than 0.01) from the mean PCV value of 37.3 +/- 3.7 obtained from the uninfected turkeys. Eleven out of the 89 positive cases were clinical cases. Four critically sick turkeys died one day after treatment. Chloroquine phosphate at 5 mg/kg body weight administered i.m daily for 3 days or 250 mg tablets given orally for 5 days as well as a parenteral administration of pyrimethamine (0.3 mg/kg body weight) for 2 days were effective in the treatment of the infection.     

Susceptibility of Local Nigerian and Exotic Chickens to Infectious Bursal Disease by Contact Exposure

One hundred 6-week-old susceptible cockerels were inoculated with a pathogenic strain of infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) and kept in the same pen as 100 each of 6-week-old pullets, local chickens and broilers. The cockerels developed depression and diarrhoea on day 3 post inoculation (PI) and most of the pullets and some of the local chickens and broilers showed similar signs on day 4 PI. Loss in weight was severe and similar in the pullets and local chickens, being significantly greater than that in the broilers from days 3–11 PI. The total mortality was 85%, 66.7%, 30% and 20% for the pullets, cockerels, local chickens and broilers, respectively. The lesions were more severe in the pullets and local chickens than in the broilers. IBDV antigen and antibody were detected, respectively, in all the bursal and serum samples from the infected chickens tested. The contact exposure method used in this study simulates better what happens in nature than inoculation with IBDV. The reduced mortality observed among the local chickens, compared with that (61.5%) seen in earlier studies using intraocular inoculation of IBDV, may have been due to behavioural differences that tend to result in their ingesting a relatively low dose of the virus.