Prevalence and Pathological Affections of Infectious Diseases in Sonali Chickens in the Kishoreganj District of Bangladesh

Abstract

Infectious diseases are one of the major constraints in Sonali chicken production in the Kishoreganj district of Bangladesh. However, the estimates of their prevalences including their pathological affections were limited. Therefore, we designed a retrospective cross-sectional study with a total of 362 Sonali birds from March 2018 to February 2019 to explore the prevalences and pathological changes of different infectious diseases in this district. Results showed that, coccidiosis attributed the highest prevalence (21.27%) in Sonali chickens among the infectious diseases, as the magnitudes of IBD (18.51%) and ND (14.64%) were moderate, whilst colibacillosis (5.53%), mycoplasmosis (5.25%), salmonellosis (3.59%), and fowl cholera (3.32%) showed a lower burden. The results also revealed a significant variation (p < 0.05) in the susceptibility to diseases at different ages; as 0-20 days age group was more susceptible to IBD, 21-40 days age group to coccidiosis, 41-60 days age group to ND, and above 60 days age group to colibacillosis. Despite a little variation in overall seasonal prevalences, some specific infectious diseases, like IBD showed a higher occurrence in the winter (26.32%) and summer (17.97%), while coccidiosis in the rainy season (26.32%), than other diseases. The typical pathological changes were observed in the birds affected with ND, IBD, and coccidiosis. These results provide an overall scenario of infectious diseases of Sonali chickens in the study area, which guides both the disease control authority to prioritize the disease burden and to plan their efficient control strategies and the Sonali raisers to orchestrate their disease management protocols.