Gumboro disease / Infectious Bursal Disease

24.1.7 Gumboro disease / Infectious Bursal Disease (A Disease of Young Chickens)

This is a very infectious disease that spreads quickly among young chickens. It is caused by a virus that is easily carried from one chicken house to another on people’s clothes, by insects and other methods. Sometimes the virus seems to be stronger than other times, and more animals will die in an outbreak.

 Chickens less than three weeks of age do not usually die from this disease. However, this disease destroys a chicken’s ability to resist other diseases. Chickens which survive this disease may later die from other diseases - even if they are properly vaccinated and treated.

 Chickens 3 - 6 weeks of age often die quickly after becoming sick.

 Chickens 6 - 18 weeks of age may become sick, but it is quite rare.

Symptoms:

 Chickens become uncoordinated.

 Watery diarrhea is common, along with soiled feathers around the vent.

 Often more than 20% of the chickens die, but the others recover in less than one week.

Postmortem Findings:

 The cloacal bursa is swollen and may have red spots in it.

 The chest muscles and leg muscles often are swollen and may have bloody spots in them.

Diagnosis:

 Based on symptoms and postmortem.

Treatment / Prevention:

 There is no treatment.

 Various vaccines are available. Some are stronger than others and it is quite confusing. Please seek advice from local authorities regarding which vaccines are best in your area.

 Breeder flocks should be vaccinated 1 or more times during their growing period. If they have resistance, then their chicks will be more able to gain resistance to this disease.

 Occasional blood tests from breeder flocks will help to determine whether or not they have been vaccinated.

 After an outbreak of this disease, the chicken house must be disinfected very carefully. Then it should be left vacant for several months to be sure that the virus is killed. Only after that should new chickens be put back into the chicken house.