A Review on Aspergillosis in Poultry

Abstract

Aspergillosis is a respiratory disease of chicken, turkey, humans and other mammals and less frequently ducks, pigeon, geese and other wild and domestic birds. It is cuased by a fungal species under the genus Aspergillus. In chickens and turkey, the disease may be endemic on some farm. In wild birds, it appears too sporadic, frequently affecting only an individual bird. It is usually seen in birds of 7-40 days old. Aspergillus spp are ubiquitous and the disease is found where ever environmental condition is favorable for growth. Aspergillus fumigatus is frequently isolated in affected bird. Infection occurs by inhalation of spores. The disease has two forms, acute and chronic form. The acute form occurs when large amount of spores are ingested by the bird, where as, the chronic form affects birds under immune suppression. The clinical signs are non-specific and a variety of diagnostic procedures are required for the diagnosis of aspergillosis in poultry, of which culturing is very important. Treatment of aspergillosis is not effective and prevention is the best way of controlling the disease. Good managemental practices such as sanitation, avoiding wet litter or soil and moldy or dusty feeds, provididing adequate ventilation, and disinfecting feed and water lines should be implemented to prevent and control the disease.

Case Report: Prevalence and significance of aspergellosis in commercial broiler chicken: Pathological study

“…Eggshell can be contaminated during in the case of collection and storage of insufficient (13). During the year 2015, Aspergillus spp.…”

“…Clinical signs and lesions were noted in some day-old chicks, but classic lesions were observed in chicks five days of age (12,13). Morbidity and mortality rate of the poultry differs from flock to flock, age to age and also to the degree of the immune status of the birds and the exposure level (11,).…”

Diagnostic Aspects of Veterinary and Human Aspergillosis

“…Clinically, the first signs include breathing difficulties and wheezing due to the obstruction of airways by fungal granulomata ( Girma et al, 2016 ). Subsequently general symptoms such as lethargy, inappetence, diarrhea, and feather ruffling may appear ( Pardeike et al, 2016 ).…”

“…In other cases, wasting may be the only symptom ( Neumann, 2016 ). Pathological changes include granulomata in the lungs and fungal plaques in the air-sacs are ( Girma et al, 2016 ).…”

“…In some cases, such as wild birds, their periodic capture, necessary for repeated administration of parenteral antimycotic drugs during long periods, may be impractical due to the resulting stress. Moreover, the fungus’ sequestration from the blood stream may result in it not being exposed to the drug ( Girma et al, 2016 ). Consequently, oral antimycotics are preferred and various approaches such as nebulization or the use of nanosuspensions have been attempted ( Wlaź et al, 2015 ; Pardeike et al, 2016 ).…”