Question

Which one of the following is a bacterial disease of chickens?
A) Rickets
B) Fowl cholera
C) Ranikhet
D) Rinderpest

Answer 1

Hint: The above-given diseases are either bacterial, viral or caused due to deficiency of vitamins. All these diseases lead to various consequences in human life. Various vaccines are used for the prevention of these diseases that work quite effectively.

Complete answer:
To know which one is a disease specifically caused by chicken, one must know about the given diseases. The difference between a bacterial and viral disease is that the former is caused by bacteria whereas the latter is caused by a virus.

Rickets- it is also known as osteomalacia. This disease is caused by the deficiency of vitamin D in the body which leads to the weakening of bones. This lack of vitamin D leads to less absorption of calcium and phosphorus which are the major vitamins required by the bones for their efficient working.

Fowl cholera- this is a bacterial disease that affects the domestic as well as the wild chickens. It is caused by Pasteurella multocida. It is asymptomatic sometimes but other times can show symptoms like pneumonia, swollen wattles etc. It is a contagious disease. Various vaccines like attenuated live vaccines and adjuvanted bacterins are used for its prevention.

Ranikhet- this is an avian infection. The main cause is a paramyxovirus that belongs to the genus rubulavirus. The respiratory and nervous systems of the birds get affected by this which leads to twitching of the head, tremors respiratory difficulty in the bird.

Rinder pest- it is also known as the cattle plague as it affects the cattle and buffalo mainly. It is a contagious viral disease. It has been declared eradicated though a single case may lead to its restart.

From the above discussion, we know that a correct answer is an option (B).

Note: Rinderpest has had terrible consequences in the past, leading to famines and varied economic losses. The route of infection of fowl cholera is either through the mouth or by nose via faeces, contaminated soil etc. Its incubation ranges from five to eight days.