title: An unusual outbreak of histomonosis in a commercial turkey flock.
abstract: In the past histomonosis was very well controlled with Dimetridazole as a treatment and/or Nifursol as feed additive. In the European Union both products were banned in 1995 and 2003, respectively. This was followed by the re-emergence of the disease in the recent years. In the present case a farm with two houses was affected by the disease. In each house 2620 hens and 2620 toms were kept, separated by wire mesh. At the 53rd day of age the toms in house 1 showed general clinical symptoms, accompanied by a slightly raised mortality, which sharply increased in the following days. At necropsy all dead birds showed lesions typical for histomonosis in caeca and liver. Histomonosis was diagnosed by histopathology and PCR. Within five days cumulative mortality was 25.1%.The hens kept at the same house didn't show any symptoms. At day 57 two toms, which were kept in house 2, died and showed similar symptoms and lesions. Within the next three days 48 more birds died. Again the hens in house 2 showed neither clinical signs nor mortality. Treatment trials using herbal products and a change of litter directly after the onset of clinical signs did not reduce the mortality. On day 62 the toms of both houses were euthanized by CO2 in closed containers. The hens were kept until they were slaughtered in week 16 and did not show any evidence of histomonosis.
authors.affiliation: Geflügelgesundheitsdienst, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Popp
authors.forename: Rüdiger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hauck
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Blazey
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hänel
authors.forename: Hafez Mohamed
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Hafez
mesh_terms: D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000379:methods; D000818:Animals; D002432:Cecum / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D060005:Genotyping Techniques / Q000662:veterinary; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D008099:Liver / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011529:Protozoan Infections, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D016834:Trichomonadida / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014422:Turkeys / Q000469:parasitology*
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan