Passive surveillance of clinical poultry diseases in an Upazila Government Veterinary Hospital of Bangladesh

The present study is aimed at investigating clinical poultry diseases in an Upazila Government Veterinary Hospital of Bangladesh through passive surveillance and to know the frequency distribution of antimicrobial drugs prescription pattern. The study was conducted in Ramu Upazila Government Veterinary Hospital under Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh from February to March, 2016. A total of 180 cases including 73 broiler, 84 layer, 18 duck and 5 pigeon were included in this study. Diseases were diagnosed based on clinical history, clinical signs, post mortem lesions and rapid kit test. The most prevalent diseases were Newcastle disease (ND) 17.8% (95% CI 12-24%), colibacillosis 11.5% (95% CI 6-17%), infectious bursal disease (IBD) 10.8% (95% CI 6-16%) and aspergillosis 9.6% (95% CI 5-14%) in broiler and layer chickens; duck plague 69.6% (95% CI 49-90%) in duck and pigeon pox 13% (95% CI 0.2-24%) in pigeon. Regarding production type, the prevalence of colibacillosis, IBD and aspergillosis was significantly higher in broiler chickens (17.8, 19.2 and 16.4%) when compared with layer chickens (6.0, 3.6 and 3.6%) (p<0.05). On the contrary, ND and avian influenza (AI) were significantly greater in layer (27.4 and 10.7%) than broiler chickens (6.8 and 1.4%). Within age group, aspergillosis and omphalitis were higher at 1 to 10 days age groups while IBD and ND were greater in older age groups. In layer chickens, the prevalence of ND, AI, salmonellosis and fowl cholera were recorded higher in number between the ages of 9 and 83 weeks. Among the antibiotic drugs, ciprofloxacin (46.7%), colistin (42.2%), trimethoprim and sulphur drug (37.8%) were mostly prescribed to treat the diseases. Poor biosecurity practices and lack of appropriate laboratory diagnostic facilities are associated with these disease distributions in the study area. Strict biosecurity and continuous surveillance program can minimize the disease prevalence.   Key words: Poultry diseases, veterinary hospital, antimicrobial drugs, Bangladesh, surveillance.