Posted by doggiedawg on March 27, 2003 at 02:04:34:
In Reply to: doggie,... posted by krazybirdlady on March 26, 2003 at 18:41:22:
HI Birdlover..Here is a little info....Symptoms of disease are highly variable and non-specific in caged birds. One of the classical signs of Exotic Newcastle Disease is tremors and involuntary shaking of head and body when the bird tries to move. Other signs may include anorexia, depression, diarrhea, paralysis, twisted neck, respiratory difficulty, eye discharge, weight loss, etc. Similar signs may be seen with other bird diseases. Laboratory testing is necessary to confirm a diagnosis of Exotic Newcastle Disease.
Clinical Signs: There may be considerable variation in the severity of clinical signs, depending on species, age, vaccination, and natural resistance of the birds, as well as the virulence of the END strain. Most species demonstrate a period of depression, diarrhea, and loss of appetite. Clinical signs are more pronounced in susceptible chickens. Edema of the tissues around the eye, especially of the lower eyelid, are common. Straw colored exudate may flow from the mouth or nasal openings. Respiratory distress may vary from mild to severe. Clinical signs in turkeys and pet birds are usually mild. Torticollis, paralyzed wings and/or legs are commonly seen 10-20 days following onset of clinical signs.
Gross Lesions: Hemorrhage may be seen throughout the G.I. tract. These hemorrhagic areas tend to ulcerate and then became areas of necrosis as the disease progresses. These areas are most commonly seen at the junction of the esophagus and proventriculus, Peyer's patches, and cecal tonsils. Edema is present in the subcutaneous tissues of the face and neck. The tracheal lesions are usually hemorrhagic without free blood in the lumen of the trachea. Postmortem examinations of the pet birds many times fail to exhibit any of these lesions or are not as pronounced as those seen in chickens.
Differential Diagnosis: The clinical signs and course of END closely resemble those of a number of other avian diseases including fowl plague, laryngo-tracheitis, the diphtheritic form of fowl pox in poultry, psittacosis, and Pacheco's disease in parrots. This makes laboratory confirmation of a presumptive field diagnosis mandatory.
Laboratory Confirmation: The surest method for confirmation of END is the isolation and identification of the causative virus. Specimens for attempting viral isolation should be selected from cases in the early or even the prodromal stages of the disease. The END viral strains are widely distributed in the avian body, and can be isolated from lung, trachea, spleen, terminal gut, and brain. Tissue triturates or media from cloacal and tracheal swabs are inoculated into 8-11 day embryonated chicken eggs, and after a variable period of incubation, depending on the virulence of the strain, the virus will be found in the amnionic-allantoic fluids, which are then tested for avian erythrocyte agglutinating activity. Subsequently, it is determined if the hemagglutination reaction is inhibited by known ND antiserums. The Newcastle disease virus isolates are characterized by determining the time necessary to kill chicken embryos and the lesions produced in chickens inoculated with the virus:i am in canada, but wonder what the signs are for END. I can provide a few URLS that you may want to take a look at OK..just pop in and have a quick look OK? here are a few---->http://www.exoticpetvet.net/dvms/newcastle.html and another-----> http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/enc/vnd.html (that one has some pictures) Here is another-----> http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww70evi.htm there are so many sites and so much to read..but please come join the group I posted that URL for and there is all sorts of info there . GBY. Happy Birdkeeping!!!thx Lori
