Clinico-epidemiological investigation on diseases of Sonali chicken in a northern part of Bangladesh

SUMMARY: Sonali chicken farming in the northern part of Bangladesh has been rapidly progressing. One of the major problems in rearing Sonali chicken in this area is considered the occurrence of various diseases although there are no data. The research was designed to determine the proportionate prevalence of the diseases and their associated risk factors including prescribed antimicrobials against each diseased Sonali chicken case presented at Upazila Livestock Office and Veterinary Hospital, Ullahpara, Sirajgonj, Bangladesh for a period of 2 mo. A total of 73 clinical cases were examined for the diagnosis of different diseases based on history, clinical findings, and postmortem lesions. This study revealed that most of the farmers were male (74%), middle-aged group (31–yr) (49.3%), were poorly educated (74.1% up to secondary level), and were relatively new in farming (1–4 yr) (72.6%). The flock size (501–2500) of most of the farms was medium (52.1%). Classic Sonali chicken dominated the farms (60.3%). Results also demonstrated that the prevalence of viral diseases was the highest (39.3%) in Sonali chicken followed by protozoal (31.0%), and bacterial diseases (20.2%). Among the diseases, Coccidiosis (31.0%), Newcastle Disease (14.3%), Infectious Bursal Disease (13.1%), Colibacillosis (11.9%), Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza (4.8%), and Necrotic enteritis (4.8%) were more predominant diseases observed in studied birds. The odds of coccidiosis being positive were significantly higher in male-operated farms (OR = 6.8) and farms with flock sizes of 501 to 5100 (OR = 2.93) in the Sonali chicken farm (P ≤ 0.05). The odds of colibacillosis being positive were significantly higher in day-old chick (DOC) sourced from feed and chick dealers (OR = 10.00) and significantly lower occurrences 29 to 70 d of age (OR = 0.23) in the Sonali chicken (P ≤ 0.05). Sulfa-quinoxaline (27.4%), Enrofloxacin (16.4%), Levofloxacin (13.7%), and Colistin (6.9%) were commonly prescribed antibiotics for different Sonali chicken cases. Ciprofloxacin and gentamicin were included in the category critically important for veterinary and human use. Proper farm management and good quality chicks should be taken into consideration for effective control of coccidiosis and colibacillosis with decreased antimicrobial usage.