info please

[DOVEScot]

A young pigeon still in the nest showed signs of head tilt. I took it alive to the bush vetenery labs to have it tested, they carried out a post mortem on it, nothing found, only a slight infection in the lung area

We don't race pigeons, most of which rarely fly out of sight, never seen a street/ferel pigeon once in my area

Waiting on further results but worried about paramyxo

Chickadee really takes good care or her birds and would be devastated if we had to cull them

 

Paramyxo or New-Castle disease is a very widespread disease in the pigeon world. In Belgium, in case of a paramyxo-infection, you are obliged to submit a declaration to the government office of this very contagious infection. Mostly pigeons during moulting season, exhausted and late young are very susceptible. Not or bad vaccinated pigeons always run a great risk.  

      

      

 

      

Drinking a lot

Watery droppings

Typical turned head

Shock reaction

Disturbance of balance

Pecking next to the food

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Duration = 1-3 months

After healing a good performance is still possible

Some pigeons have permanent damage (turned neck, watery droppings)

  

Typical turned head

 

      

 

      

Curative (= in case of illness):

NONE (= you are obliged to submit a declaration to the government office!!)

We can prevent a dehydration caused by the watery droppings by administering FORTALYT in the drinking water

Prevention:

Annual vaccination of all healthy pigeons starting after 4 weeks of age

 

Important:

In Belgium the vaccination for PARAMYXO is obligatory for all race and fancy pigeons  

      

 

[DOVEScot]

photo of bird on above site

[Tony C]

I would say its very very rare for a squeaker in the nest to contract Paramyxo. I believe for the first month of their life they carry an immunity passed on by the hen.

[jimmy white]

def,, paramyxo ,,sorry to say,,,,,,,best thing first is get them all vaccinated asap ,, the vet will [or must] notify the proper authorities , then take it from there,, sorry this has happened

[DOVEScot]

 

Newcastle Disease  

 

Home > Media Centre > Briefing Sheets > Newcastle Disease

 

WHAT IS NEWCASTLE DISEASE (ND)? WHICH BIRDS DOES IT AFFECT?

 

Newcastle disease is a highly contagious disease of birds caused by a paramyxo virus. Birds affected by this disease are fowls, turkeys, geese, ducks, pheasants, guinea fowl and other wild and captive birds, including ratites such as ostriches, emus and rhea.

 

HOW IS IT SPREAD?

 

The virus is present in the exhaled air, secretions and faeces of infected birds, both before they show signs of illness and while they are convalescent. Spread is mainly by movement of birds and manure, and such as people, vehicles etc. contaminated by manure.

 

CAN HUMANS GET IT?

 

The Health Protection Agency has confirmed that Newcastle Disease virus does not pose a significant threat to human health even when people handle birds known to be infected.

 

WHAT ARE THE SIGNS?

 

Virulent ND virus infections are most likely to cause some or all of the following signs in poultry:

 

Respiratory signs: gasping and coughing

Nervous signs: drooping wings, dragging legs, twisting of the head and neck, ataxia or circling, depression, anorexia, complete paralysis

Partial or complete cessation of egg production

Eggs are misshapen, rough-shelled, thin-shelled and contain watery albumen

Greenish watery diarrhoea

Swelling of the tissues around the eyes and in the neck

The proportion of birds which become ill or die depends on the virulence of the virus strain, degree of vaccine immunity, environmental conditions, and condition of the flock.

WHAT HAPPENS IF DISEASE IS CONFIRMED?

 

When disease is confirmed restrictions are imposed on the infected place and movement restrictions and biosecurity measures are enforced. The birds on the premises are slaughtered. In addition, a Declaratory Order is made declaring an Infected Area and establishing a surveillance zone of 10 km and a smaller Protection Zone around the infected premises to impose restriction to prevent the spread of disease. The State Veterinary Service traces all known contacts connected with the infected birds.

 

WHAT SHOULD FARMERS DO NOW?

 

Farmers need to ensure that they are vigilant looking for signs of disease and ensure that they report any suspicions to their local Animal Health Divisional Office. All keepers of birds should ensure they maintain high standards of biosecurity and consider whether they wish to vaccinate in consultation with their vet advisors.

 

 

 

[jimmy white]

is this the pigeon your meaning ???

[DOVEScot]

is this the pigeon your meaning ???

 

The above pigeon is a picture from web site

 

[Guest]

Think Jimmy mistook the pic for a pic of your bird - and based his post on that.

[Tony C]

http://www.pigeonbasics.com/forum/blah/m-1185922618/s-4/#num4

 

Could there be a connection.

[Guest]

Pesronally, I don't think you have anything to be worried about. An autopsy on the bird would show tell tale lesions on the internal organs that the Centre staff would instantly recognise as paramyxo.

 

You don't say what age the youngster was but the slight tilt of the head is a description of all youngsters in the nest - they sleep with their head tilted to one side from 1 - 7/8 days old. If head and neck were down on the nestbowl floor, yes, I'd worry then.

 

Reckon they've told you the worst they've found, a touch of respiratory.

[Wiley]

http://www.pigeonbasics.com/forum/blah/m-1185922618/s-4/#num4

 

Could there be a connection.

 

 

you could be right tony,

 

[jimmy white]

ahh sorry dovescot,,,jumped to conclusiond there,[i thought that was the bird :X],am i right in saying you had a post on b4about a bird with a drooping wing this along with the yb COULD be a case of paratyphoid [salmonelosis ] similar symtoms to paramyxo , but vet will take at least three days to find out as this is grown in a culture in the lab , a yb in the nest could have this rather than paramyxo , this can also be the cause of  "dead in the shell eggs " as this can actualy spread in the egg itself ,, good luck with results and hope it is not this  

[Guest]

http://www.pigeonbasics.com/forum/blah/m-1185922618/s-4/#num4

 

Could there be a connection.

 

Obviously reading as I go along, but one of the differences I've picked up between lameness thro pmv and lameness thro paratyphoid, according to Wim Peters, is there's no swelling with pmv, but there is with para.  

[jimmy white]

http://www.pigeonbasics.com/forum/blah/m-1185922618/s-4/#num4

 

Could there be a connection.

 

yes , agree with tony [your all faster than me with computer ]

[DOVEScot]

The bird with the bad wing is damaged the joint is swolen and black, which is said to be connected to bruising, taped up her wing and she is doing fine, but not ruled anything out till tests come back, still isolated

The bird that was tested was 23 days old, its nest mate is showing no signs of illness so far

Our bird was handed in on friday to the lab, the vet carried out a full postmortem and found only small infection, nothing concerning

waiting on results of cultures

 

Do you have to cull all your birds if its the worst (Paramyxo) or is there any hope to treat the ones left please

[Guest]

Do you have to cull all your birds if its the worst (Paramyxo) or is there any hope to treat the ones left please

 

The Newcastle Disease legislation calls for a complete cull of all susceptible species on the infected premises. But that seems to depend on a veterinary risk assessment which shows that it is both necessary and desirable for preventing disease spread to commercial poultry flocks. For example rare breeds are exempt and this applied in the East Lothian outbreak in farmed partridge last year where certain birds were left out of the the cull and presumably vaccinated instead.

 

Case a few years back now, letter in BHW where a single loft was involved, not all the birds were culled, but the writer did say he was left with unrecoverable costs of special disposal of culled carcases... that was his point in writing the letter in the first place. He did pass on an excellent tip from the vet: vet held out a single finger to suspect birds, and traced a circle in the air near them; if the bird followed the finger with its head [rather than with its eyes] then it had paramyxo.

 

[DOVEScot]

Hi, just got word back from lab, good so far nothing found

They take a scraping from the bird and inject it into a chicken embrio and wait on the results, this takes at least a week

I was waiting for results but vet suggested vaccinating all healthy looking birds, which appears to be them all.

What is the best vaccinne colombovac or nobivac and which gun to get, one on BHW pigeon pharmacy for £30 one that looks the same on everythingforpets.com for £90. Do I need to change needle every time I inject a bird

[Wiley]

you wont need to change needle but you will need some sterilizing alchol,

[DOVEScot]

you wont need to change needle but you will need some sterilizing alchol,

 

Cheers

[Guest]

You'll probably not be able to get Colombovac this year, Pigeon Pharmacy have Nobilis and they also do a vaccine gun - got one and it does the job well.

 

Nobilis provide a sterilising pack with their vaccine, surgical spirit, which stinks and which stains the birds feathers too, so go easy on it. Just a matter of jabbing the needle into a damp sponge between jabbing each bird, sterilises needle, so no cross-infection between birds.

 

Glad to hear you don't have anything serious.  

[DOVEScot]

You'll probably not be able to get Colombovac this year, Pigeon Pharmacy have Nobilis and they also do a vaccine gun - got one and it does the job well.

 

Nobilis provide a sterilising pack with their vaccine, surgical spirit, which stinks and which stains the birds feathers too, so go easy on it. Just a matter of jabbing the needle into a damp sponge between jabbing each bird, sterilises needle, so no cross-infection between birds.

 

Glad to hear you don't have anything serious.  

 

Cheers, just ordered everything from pigeon pharmacy, thanks for the help and advice

still keeping fingers crossed for the culture tests on the chicken embrios

 

[DOVEScot]

Hi, got results today, all clear, lab results showed slight lung infection nothing nastie, brain tissue culture came back as a form of "pigeon meningitis" never heard of this before. No salmonela or paramyxo, still waiting on muscle tissue culture but vet reckons a one off problem ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[jimmy white]

no salmonella [paratyphoid[ and no paramyxo,,,,,,the best result you could get , whatever the outcome is now ,, salmonella or pararypphoid is about the worst thing you can get ,, as there is birds that , allthough,look healthy ,can be carriers for years ,and can cause untold damage,even in the egg , so really your vet news is actualy good news  

[DOVEScot]

no salmonella [paratyphoid[ and no paramyxo,,,,,,the best result you could get , whatever the outcome is now ,, salmonella or pararypphoid is about the worst thing you can get ,, as there is birds that , allthough,look healthy ,can be carriers for years ,and can cause untold damage,even in the egg , so really your vet news is actualy good news  

 

My cousin got salmonela in benidorm and was told he could become a lifetime carrier, after further results got the all clear.

Maybe the same as in pigeons, you will get lifetime carriers and others that become clear of the bug?????

[Wiley]

 

My cousin got salmonela in benidorm and was told he could become a lifetime carrier, after further results got the all clear.

Maybe the same as in pigeons, you will get lifetime carriers and others that become clear of the bug?????

 

you are right some pigeons are carriers of salmonela, and some pigeons get it, the once that get it and recover can also be carriers from then on