My hearty greetings To everyone who is seeing
this video clipping.
My dear friends I would be blessed if this
video would be useful to at least a few people.
In this particular situation where various
natural disasters are plugging us, pigeons are susceptible to various infectious diseases.
[Pigeons are generally affected by coccidiosis during rainy season since it assosiated with moisture ]
But unfortunately I came to understand that the Paramyxovirosis is spreading in many parts of Kerala, this inspired me to do this video.
Monsoon season has been one of the most unusual in the recent years,
so is the spreading of PMV in moist condition. The Paramyxovirosis is
usually seen in the summer season or dry atmosphere.
This is a viral airborne disease.This means virus is spread through air
so it normally do not spread in humid climate
What is Paramyxovirosis?
This is commonly
referred to as twisting of head  but the scientific term is Torticollis
Let us see under what
circumstances the torticollis occur.
Usually Torticollis is seen as clinical feature in four  conditions.
1 Vitamin deficiency
2 Pigeon Malaria
3 Salmonellosis
4 Paramyxovirosis (PMV)
Though we are going to talk mainly about Paramyxovirosis
l will be briefing about the other three as well.
Firstly Vitamin deficiency
when we talk about Vitamin deficiency the importance mostly goes to
B1- Thiamine
B9-Folate
B12-Cobalamine
All of us know that these vitamins are very
essential for the existence and conduction of the nervous system.
Usually
Rice,
wheat,
Maize,
Oats and Barley are its sources.
When we give this please incorporate the husk (outer covering of the seeds) which is vitamin B rich.
To get rid of this problem sometimes
the vitamin B is given through drinking water and food
The second is Pigeon Malaria
This disease is also known as Avian Malaria.
Let me say, this is not similar to the Malaria found in human
It is also called Pseudomalaria. because of its similarity in the mode of transmission, clinical features and the method used to diagnose the disease
The reason for the name Malaria in pigeons is because of its resemblance in the mode of transmission and in the mode of action
between the human parasites (that is Plasmodium Vivax and Plasmodium Falciparum) and the parasite seen in pigeons (that is haemoproteus columbae)
Everybody knows that this disease is transmitted by the mosquitoes.
Confirmation of this disease is by blood test,which shows the Gametocytes which is a part of the Haemoproteus columbae , in the pigeon red blood cells(RBC)
This is usually done in veterinary colleges
and veterinary Labs.
Next comes the Salmonellosis. This is also known as Paratyphoid.
Salmonella Typhimurium is the name of the bacteria which spreads
this disease
This disease can be divided into four categories according to the affected body parts
First is intestinal form or bowel form. This is a condition that affects the intestine.
In this case undigested food grains can be found in the pigeon's droppings.
This is not commonly found in any other diseases.
Next is Meningeal form or Nervous form
This is the form of Salmonellosis related with the Torticollis.
The condition affects
the Meninges that covers the brain.
Head rotation can be seen in this condition.
Next is Joint form or Articular form.
Symptoms include swelling of knees, angle ,elbow and other joints
Generalized form. It is a condition that affects all parts and organs of the body.
This can be called a multi organ failure. The fact is that the affected pigeons do not live long
Now let us learn more about Paramyxovirosis.
This disease initially appeared in the Middle East in the 1970 and in Europe in 1980s especially in Federal Republic of Germany.
PMV itself vary in types.
But pigeons are affected by Type 1.
The virus is found in domestic chickens and guinea fowl as Newcastle disease but is not commonly referred to as Newcastle disease in pigeons.
A word or two can be said about the way this disease is transmitted.
Mainly from one pigeon to another.
That is direct contact.
Viruses can be spread through the air via infected dust , as i said earlier this is an airborne disease.
Virus that stick to dust may be spread by
mosquito and flies. This is known as indirect contact
In the same way this can be transmitted
through rats and humans.
So if you go to an infected cage or loft knowingly or unknowingly
do take a bath with soap before you enter into others loft or your own loft.
Next let us see how the virus enter into the pigeons.
The virus first enters the gut through
the mouth and to the trachea through the nose.
Initially it affects the intestine. Therefore
intestinal symptoms are the first to be observed,
for example Loss of appetite
Diarrhoea - the characteristics feature of
the droppings is the appearance of faeces in the form of segmented earthworm in clear water.
Vomiting is an other clinical feature
Excess water intake is again another clinical feature
Then it affects the Nervous system following the first symptoms
First It is characterised by the loss of ability to fly, walking backwards,
looking things
with slightly tilted head,
lowering of the head and extending to the abdomen
Later turning and rotation of the head starts(as shown the picture). Sometimes some pigeons are seen flying backwards if they can fly.
They may occasionally fly and hit against
the wall and fall down, they overturn in the flight and crash down on landing.
Another symptom is the hypersensitivity to certain actions
For example -- ..in a silent atmosphere when we clap our hands
or in darkness if we show a torch light they may exibit some extraordinary rotation of the head
or some abnormal movement
is among the clinical features of PMV.
Once the initial symptoms have subsided (it will take about 7 to 10 days)
it will start taking food with its beak.
Initially the pigeon will not be able to take the food grain with its beak.
Later single grain obtained by pecking 3 or 4 times will be scattered out from its beak by rotating the head excessively.
Finally it will start taking food.
Even if the food is taken it takes great effort for it to reach the gut.
It is done by rotating the neck and then moving it back and then the grain is swallowed.
If the disease is affected very badly survival of the pigeon is very difficult and
if  affect the sight , it may not live long
But most of the pigeons have been found to live a disabled life.
But majority of the pigeon will learn how to survive along with the disability.
Some among them can attain 100% cure.
Such pigeons are less likely to become infected again.
An important point, Is that an infected pigeon losses infectivity with in a month
How do you confirm this is Paramyxovirosis?
We need to do a blood test on it along with Swab collection from the throat and vent area for separating the virus from the sample and culturing it. This was the early system .
Nowadays it is confirmed through Polymerized Chain Reaction.
This is usually done in the
Microbiology lab of the veterinary colleges and private labs with modern technology will also have this facility.
Let us see the treatment
Let me say it with great grief that there is no treatment for Paramyxovirosis.
Providing good food and nutrition is important. Initially it is better to give one or two course of different appropriate antibiotics to prevent secondary infection.
Immunization Vaccination may be given once a year. This can prevent the disease to some extent
Vaccination should be given at least one month before the onset of the disease.
Remember that there is no point in getting vaccinated after having contracted the disease
Here are some sites from where you can import drugs
Lastly I would like to say a few words about the method of their care. Here is where we need to show our true love for our pigeons.
The beautiful exotic pigeons that once gave us joy and peace should never be abandoned when they get sick
Our mission is to treat them with love and
care .
Good food and water should be given in large containers. This is because eating from small containers is very difficult for such pigeons
For the first few days it is better to put
the sick pigeons in small cages depending up upon its size.
If the bottom of the cage has a layer of wire mesh, the droppings is not likely to soil the body of the pigeon.
It is better to put the weak pigeons seperated from the healthy pigeons.
This is because weak pigeons do not have the same agility as those who are healthy.
Thank you for having patience for watching the video.
Extending my sincere thanks to all the United pigeon club officials who inspired me to make this video
For United pigeon club Dr Jones Paul, Thrissur
Thank you very much
