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urgent advice needed...coccidiosis in gp's

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Spishkey

Spishkey

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my entire flock of young turkey poults has just been wiped out by either blackhead or coccidiosis (I'm awaiting a report on which it was but am now leaning towards cocci)

ive lost 3 young guineapigs this week (all under 8 weeks old but over 4 weeks) the only symptom being the runs and weight loss. ive also lost a chinchilla but didnt see ANY symptoms in him so dont know if its related or not...its been a tough week so far here.

ive now just been told guineapigs can also suffer from cocci (i thought cocci was species specific..eg..turkeys could only catch turkey cocci, pigs could only cath piggy cocci) but now I'm wondering if this is right?

could my guineapigs have caught it from the poultry?
should i treat ALL piggies here for cocci? how can i be sure thats what it is? what else points to cocci in piggies?

I'm devastated but have to look realisticly at what i can do to prevent further infection. if it spreads to the other pigs I'm doomed. (luckily the younger piggies are kept in a different area to the older piggies, but I'm worried about crosscontamination etc)

am i over reacting and maybe its just bad luck? or am i looking at a major disaster here. i can take a piggy in to the vets to have fecael tests but the results could take days to come back....i need to do something now.....suggestions? ideas?
 
Really sorry to hear about your loss.

I dont know about the passing of these diseases but i think there was something on here recently about chickens or something passing disease onto GPs. Could be wrong though.

x
 
Piggies can catch coccidiosis, but I don't know how it is transferred e.g. airborne, direct contact with urine/faeces etc. Only prevention I know of, aside from ensuring the poultry and guineas never cross the same paths (includes the guineas feeds etc.), is routine worming with Ivomec and Panacur.

Diarrhoea and weight loss would indicate it to me, potentially other causes but given cocci is a big possibility for your turkey losses, I'd feel it's a big possibility for your young guineas too. I'm so sorry you're having such a tough time. xx
 
I don't know either but I am also very sorry you've really been up against it this last few weeks.

x
 
Oh dear....I'm very sad to hear this.

I was reading up on this yesterday eveing and this morning in response to another thread on here about guinea pigs and poultry.

Bottom line is, I'm sorry but unfortunately it does sound as though you may have a cocci infection and YEs it (the oocysts) can be spread to gp's from poultry (or rabbits or other rodents)....via urine/faeces or other contaminated material such as beeding or human hands

There are two types of coccidiosis - hepatic (Eimieria stiedae - mostly in rabbits)..and intestinal which are other Eimeria species.
Although guinea pigs tend to have Eimierai cavie identified (which implies it is species specific), there are over 10 different types of eimeria and it is implied they can jump species and are often transmitted from wild rodents and poultry.


Sometimes the animal will be asymptomatic but then just suddenly die - you need to get a PM done.

As to what you can do - many of the treatments are preventative rather than curative.....i.e. coccidiostats (common in poultry and rabbits)

For active infection - Good hygiene/husbandry is the first step to limiting sperad of the disease. Wash your hands in a suitable disinfectant between every operation and be very aware not to transfer via secondary spread.

Suitable disinfectants: not many as this is a parasite transmiited by hightly resistant oocysts that can survive many months (like fungal spores) as opposed to bacteria/virus/fungus - so Virkon/Trigene etc are NOT quoted as being active against this bug

Quaternary Ammonia compounds such as Roccal from Pfier seem to be the ones recommended - but most quote treatment doses fro poultry and have not been tested on guineas

and there this new one although no feedback as to whether safe to use in guineas
http://www.biolinklimited.co.uk/bio_cyst.html


As for drugs to treat active infections:
2% sulfalethazine and its derviatives (i.e. tribrissen) for 7-10 days in water is the only one quoted for piggies from Harness and Wagner. Persaonlly I;d hope my vet would have an alterantive injectable to give a first "dose" followed by oral treatment (i.e. paediatric septrin or comounded tables of tribrissen - I have used both before but not to treat coccidiosis)which doesn;t involve putting into the water bottle.

Please get a PM done to check exactly what it is in view of the way it is spreading through all your beloved animals...and please be aware that any cause of death may not be due to coccidiosis per se but due to a secondary opportunistic bacterial gastro infecton such as clostridium or coliforms.


Bottom line is get it identified and while you;re waiting, just get septriin or tribrissen down them. i.e. yes - in your position I would not hesitate to treat ALL my piggies fro cocci even if just using a regularly advsertised coccioistat rather than the active antibioitic treatment above

I am so very very sorry to hear you are having such problems - it must be a total nightmare for you - big hugs

x

P.S. I have a PhD in microbial pathogenicity working with parasites - in particular leishmaniasis
 
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More big hugs from me. Sorry you're having such a tough time. Fingers crossed you get the best possible outcome. x
 
well we lost 2 chickens and 2 chinchillas today. this thing is fast whatever it is and my vets is not open until tuesday afternoon.
I'm going tomorrow morning first thing to a local farm shop for metronidazole and apple cider vinegar to put in the chickens and ducks water. this should normally kill off the parasite in 5 days.
do you know if this is safe for gps? i wouldnt normally try something 'not' recommended for gp's but I'm desperate. at this rate I'm gonna lose everything if i dont act fast.
ive split all the animals into 'species' rooms (baby chinchillas, baby gp's and baby chicks used to share one room , birds/ducks adult gp's adult chinnys in another etc..but now all gp's are in the stables, all chinnys in the shed and all poultry is outside now. everything has been disinfected and i will continue to disinfect every 24 hours. only i am allowed to enter the animal areas now (fully gowned, booted up and gloved, seperate clothes for each room) its like a bio hazard zone here. ive asked walkers to stop feeding the animals outside and they can no longer come inand pet the animals until everything is safe.
 
I really hope things get better and you don't lose anymore. Good luck
 
I'm sorry you've lost more animals, it sounds like a real ordeal getting this under control and stopping it from spreading but it does sound necessary.

No idea on the apple cider vinegar for guinea pigs but metronidazole is a safe antibiotic for them, in the right doses of course.

xx
 
It'd have to be given directly to each pig to be sure each pig is treated, CCT/BAR says 0.4ml 2x daily (for adult piggies).
 
I've not found metronidazole mentioned anywhere for cioci - don;t get me wrong - it's powerful antiibiotic but active against mainly Gram -ve (but also Giardia parasite)

Personally I would look to [*]also[/*] giving them trebrsissen (septrin) on top oF MNDZ.

Talk to yourvet
x
 
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