Clinicopathological features and management of aspergillosis in some poultry farms in Jos metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

Aspergillosis is important in poultry production and human health but difficulty in its ante mortem diagnosis in addition to the unsuccessful outcome of most management options has made the disease a lingering nightmare to farmers. This study presents the clinicopathological features and management of aspergillosis in some poultry farms in Jos metropolis, Nigeria. Thirteen cases of aspergillosis from 12 poultry farms were confirmed and managed from April, 2019 to March, 2020 with 7.6% cases in a mixed turkey-broiler farm, 15.4% in broilers and 76.9% in layers. The ages affected ranged from 3 weeks to 21 weeks with 69.2% cases in pullet grower birds of 10 – 21 weeks compared to young chicks, 3 – 9 weeks with 30.8%. The rainy season accounted for 61.8% cases while mortality ranged from 1.0% to 17.4%. The clinical features were consistent and included dyspnoea; inappetence; retarded growth and mortality. While necropsy showed consolidated lungs with caseous nodules; liver with raised grayish or yellowish irregular nodules; peritonitis with the peritoneum and air sacs laced with caseous nodules; diphtheritic membrane and caseous nodules on intestinal mucosa; haemorrhagic bursitis with granulomata; caseous nodules on osseous tissues as well as nodules on the skin and skeletal muscles. Confirmatory diagnoses of aspergillosis were made by culturing nodules on Sabouraud’s Dextrose Agar. Antifungal susceptibility testing showed CuSO4 to be more susceptible which was used at the dosage of 3g/10L of drinking water for at least 7 days in all the cases. Concurrent bacterial infections were seen in some of the cases and were treated concurrently with antibiotics based on susceptibility testing while farmers using moldy feeds were asked to withdraw such feeds. Conclusively, aspergillosis is prevalent in Jos metropolis with severe impact on production and may be a silent killer disease in poultry due to constraints in diagnosis and its management.
 Keywords: Aspergillosis, clinicopathological features, Jos, management, Nigeria, poultry

Serological evidence of influenza A/H9 in indigenous birds and level of awareness at live bird markets, Plateau State

“…Since the vaccination against AI is not officially permitted in Nigeria and local chickens are not usually vaccinated, according to the report Meseko et al (2020), the antibodies detected in these birds could only have resulted from seroconversion following natural infection with the viruses. Thus, the local chickens could serve as reservoirs shedding the virus into the environment, thereby playing a crucial role in the epidemiology of the disease which agrees with research carried out by Ameji et al (2020). This finding is also consistent with previous reports of infection with LPAI H5N8 in Jos Plateau State, Nigeria (Ameji et al, 2019) and other parts of the world such as China, Asia and Europe.…”

“…In this study, the detection of antibodies to low pathogenic avian influenza serotype A/H9 in local chickens indicates the presence of low pathogenic AIVs infection. Other subtypes causing highly pathogenic (HP) Avian Influenza particularly subtype H5 have often been reported in the study area and indeed Nigeria by previous researchers (Ameji et al, 2020). The findings of this research indicate the first report of the detection of H9 from local chickens in Jos Plateau after a deductive literature search.…”

Aspergillus spp. Isolated from Lungs of Poultry (Gallus gallus) at the Mycology Laboratory, School of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica between 2008 and 2021 and Associated Factors

“…Regarding the productive purpose of the birds, in the cases obtained in Costa Rica, a higher risk was observed in animals destined to reproduction and broilers, contrary to the Nigerian research made in clinically sick chickens, where the most affected were the layers and where serious economic losses occur in the growth stage and just before the start of production [ 38 ]. Regarding broilers, in a study which compared the effect of an experimental infection by A. fumigatus in a line of White Leghorns (layers) and a line of broilers, it was observed that the layers did not present mortality compared with the broilers, which presented a mortality greater than 50%.…”

“…Detection of Aspergillus in the lungs, environment, surface, food, and litter of birds has implications for public health, the occupational health of farmworkers, and animal health and welfare [ 1 , 33 , 37 , 38 ]. Aspergillosis is a sapronotic disease, which means that the infection is acquired by inhalation or ingestion of conidia from a contaminated environment, which can cause respiratory signs in immunocompromised patients and an asthma-like allergic reaction in people exposed to high concentrations or people who are repeatedly exposed to this fungus [ 22 , 41 ].…”

“…Aspergillosis is a sapronotic disease, which means that the infection is acquired by inhalation or ingestion of conidia from a contaminated environment, which can cause respiratory signs in immunocompromised patients and an asthma-like allergic reaction in people exposed to high concentrations or people who are repeatedly exposed to this fungus [ 22 , 41 ]. Poultry farm personnel are an occupational risk group due to the continuous exposure to contaminated environments [ 1 , 33 , 37 , 38 ]; the dust from avian farms contains a combination of microorganisms and organic materials from the animals [ 42 ]. Biosecurity measures on farms are aimed at avoiding contagion between birds due to movement of personnel, but they must also include the use of personal protective equipment for the workers at risk of environmental exposure.…”