Ostrich Pox Virus Infection In Egypt

Cuteneous and diphtheritic forms of avian pox infections in a juvenile ostrich

“…The diphtheritic lesions in the mouth and the periocular lesions were believed to have affected proper feeding. It was observed that very severe cases of dry pox could also lead to eye closure so that affected bird finds it difficult to feed and eventually starves, while the diphtheritic form produces pseudomembranes in the buccal cavity, pharynx and larynx causing pharyngitis and trachitis thus affecting respiration and feeding (El-Abasy et al, 2016). These were observed in this report.…”

“…Similar diagnostic gross pathology can also be observed in infected chorio-alontoic membrane (CAM) (Offerman et al, 2013) of infected eggs. Typically, oesinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies (Bollinger's bodies) are usually seen in the histopathological tissue sections (El-Abasy et al, 2016), and are diagnostic of pox infection (Mubarak and Mahmoud, 2000;Manarolla et al, 2010;Williams et al, 2014) as observed in this case. However, inclusion bodies are only present in the first 5 days post infection and readily disappear with advance cellular damage processes (VanderKop, 1993).…”

“…Most importantly, fowl pox vaccine was successfully reported to protect ostriches against pox in high pox risk areas of South Africa (Albwright et al, 1994). In Egypt, ostrich pox was reported in many ostrich farms that led to high mortality in juvenile ostriches in which commercial fowl pox vaccine was successfully used to protect other ostriches (El-Abasy et al, 2016). However, it is worthy of note that fowl pox vaccines are of two types: those of chicken embryo origin (CEO) and those of tissue culture origin (TCO).…”

“…Pox virus infection in ostriches is believed to be transmitted by mosquito bites and commonly occurs when kept in poultry premises. Wild birds could also be a possible source of pox infection to ostriches (El-Abasy et al, 2016).…”