The 6-day-old pigeon has pigeon pox next to its eyes. What should I do?

Dove pox is an infectious disease caused by pox virus. Young pigeons mostly occur within one year old, and March-June is the main epidemic season every year, which is likely to pose a serious threat to racing pigeons that have not been vaccinated with pigeon pox vaccine. The virus is mainly transmitted by respiratory droplets and skin contact. The saliva, nose, tears or scab skin shed by sick pigeons all contain pigeon pox virus. After drying, they will come into contact with other healthy pigeons, and pigeons will be infected by fighting, pecking, mosquitoes or blood-sucking ectoparasites.

According to the different parts of the disease, it can be divided into skin type, diphtheria type (also known as mucosal type) and mixed type. The symptom of skin type is to form blisters or nodules on bare skin without feathers, and then rupture to form acne scabs, which usually fall off after 3~4 weeks. Diphtheria-type lesions occur in the mucous membranes of the mouth, throat and eyes, which will affect the trachea and esophagus in severe cases. Nodules are formed on the surface of infected mucosa. With the accumulation of nodular ulcers, yellow and white acne scabs will narrow the trachea and esophagus, causing difficulty in breathing and eating, and even death in severe cases. Mixed type has both skin type and diphtheria type symptoms.

Treatment: 6-day-old pigeons have a pigeon pox next to their eyes, which belongs to skin pigeon pox. Because of the special position, it is necessary to gently peel off the acne scab with tweezers or surgical scissors to avoid hurting the eyelids. It is effective to apply iodine glycerin or gentian violet to the wound after peeling off the scab. Pigeons with swollen eyes can be cleaned and disinfected with 2% boric acid water and then dripped with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory eye drops, which has a good effect on the adjuvant treatment of pigeon pox beside the eyes. Pigeon breeders with serious illness should take antiviral drugs orally and pass them on to young pigeons through pigeon milk to speed up their recovery.

Inoculation of pigeon pox vaccine is the most important and effective method to prevent and treat this disease. At present, the commonly used vaccine is attenuated vaccine, which can be inoculated by nose drop or inner wing puncture. Strong immunity can be produced within 10~ 14 days after inoculation, and it can still resist the attack of strong virus after 9 months, and the protection rate is above 80%. In order to ensure the vaccine effect, it is necessary to check whether there is pox at the inoculation site 7~ 10 days after inoculation to determine the immune effect. In pigeon farms with a history of the disease, especially in the epidemic season, the better the vaccination, the better the vaccination on the day of hatching, but in order to reduce trouble and save labor, a batch of newly hatched young pigeons can be vaccinated regularly every 5~7 days.