Occurrence: Worldwide. Species affected: All. Common in broilers, pullets and wild water fowl. Age affected: All ages.

Causes: Soil-borne bacterium- Clostridium botulinum.

Effects: Loose feathers, sleepiness, neck, wing, eyelid and/or leg paralysis, diarrhoea and high mortality. Dead birds decompose rapidly.

Clostridium botulinum is gram-positive and spore-forming rod, anaerobic, and a soil-borne pathogen.

It causes ...