Animal Diseases II: Bacteria, Fungal & Protozoan Diseases – SS3 Agricultural Science Lesson Note (Second Term)
Download this term · ₦1,000Lesson note at a glance
- Subject
- Agricultural Science
- Class
- SS3
- Term
- Second Term
- Topic
- Animal Diseases II: Bacteria, Fungal & Protozoan Diseases
- Order
- Topic 4 of 5 this term
- Reading time
- 7 min
Livestock diseases are grouped by their cause: viruses, bacteria, fungi and protozoa.
Behavioural objectives
By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
- name common viral, bacterial, fungal and protozoan diseases of livestock;
- state the animals affected by each disease;
- describe how each disease is transmitted;
- state the main symptoms of each disease;
- state the control and prevention measures for each disease.
What are the groups of livestock diseases?
There are four groups of livestock diseases by cause: viral, bacterial, fungal and protozoan.
- Viral diseases: caused by viruses, for example foot and mouth disease and Newcastle disease.
- Bacterial diseases: caused by bacteria, for example anthrax and brucellosis.
- Fungal diseases: caused by fungi, for example ringworm and aspergillosis.
- Protozoan diseases: caused by single-celled animal-like organisms (protozoa), for example coccidiosis and redwater fever.
What key terms are used in animal diseases?
A disease is a condition that stops the body of an animal from working normally.
- Pathogen: an organism that causes disease, such as a virus, bacterium, fungus or protozoan.
- Symptom: a sign of disease shown by a sick animal.
- Transmission: the way a disease spreads from one animal to another.
- Vector: an animal that carries a pathogen from a sick animal to a healthy one, such as the tsetse fly or a tick.
- Vaccination: giving an animal a vaccine so that it resists a disease.
- Isolation: keeping sick or suspected animals apart from healthy ones.
- Sanitation: keeping pens, feed, water and litter clean.
What are the viral diseases of livestock?
Viral diseases are livestock diseases caused by viruses, and the five covered here are foot and mouth disease, rinderpest, Newcastle disease, fowl pox and Gumboro disease.
| Viral disease | Animals affected | Mode of transmission | Symptoms | Control and prevention |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foot and mouth disease | Cattle, sheep and goats | Contact, airborne, droplets of saliva, and infected materials such as urine and faeces. | Formation of blisters (skin vesicles filled with serum, watery animal fluid) on the skin, between and around the hooves, inflammation of teats and udder, salivation, and loss of weight. | Isolation of infected animals, burning or burying contaminated materials, and timely vaccination. |
| Rinderpest disease | Cattle, sheep and goats | Contact, contaminated feed and water. | High fever, weakness, difficulty breathing, blood-stained diarrhoea, high mortality and loss of appetite. | Timely vaccination, isolation of infected animals, and restriction of infected animal movement within the farm. |
| Newcastle disease | Domestic fowl, turkey, goose, ducks and guinea fowl | Contaminated feed, water and litter. | Sneezing, nasal discharge and difficulty breathing. Lack of appetite, diarrhoea, paralysis, somersaulting, twisting of the neck and cycling movement. | Vaccination, good sanitation and disinfection of the poultry building. |
| Fowl pox | Fowl | Contaminated feed, water and litter materials. | Sores on the combs and wattles. | Isolate the infected birds, practise good sanitation measures, apply iodine on the affected parts, and adopt routine vaccination. |
| Gumboro disease | Birds | Faeces, contaminated feed, water and litter. | Swelling of the liver, spleen and kidney. The birds appear dull and sleepy. | Isolate infected birds, maintain good sanitation measures, and adopt routine vaccination. |
What are the bacterial diseases of livestock?
Bacterial diseases are livestock diseases caused by bacteria, and the six covered here are anthrax, brucellosis, tuberculosis, pullorum disease, fowl typhoid and fowl cholera.
| Bacterial disease | Animals affected | Mode of transmission | Symptoms | Control and prevention |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis) | Cattle, sheep, goats and pigs | Contaminated feed, water, equipment and infected animals. | High fever, depression, staggering and sudden death of the animal. | There is no effective drug for treatment. Regular vaccination, infected animals should be slaughtered and buried, and proper sanitation. |
| Brucellosis, also called contagious abortion (Brucella abortus) | Pigs, cattle, sheep and goats | Contaminated feed, water, contact with infected animals, and contact with infected materials such as shoes. | Abortion, inflammation of the womb, diarrhoea and dysentery, paralysis, loss of milk and frequent infertility. | Sick animals should be isolated, and badly infected animals should be killed and buried. |
| Tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) | Cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and poultry birds | Sputum, droppings, milk of an infected cow, germs inhaled, or germs taken in through the mouth during feeding. | Constant coughing, loss of weight and appetite, and infection of the liver and udder in cows. | There is no drug cure. Infected animals should be killed and buried. Maintain good sanitation and isolate suspected animals. |
| Pullorum disease | Poultry | Contamination of feed, water and litter. | Watery droppings that are usually sticky and greenish-white. | Obtain chicks from sources that are disease-free, isolate infected birds, maintain good sanitation, and treat the infected birds with appropriate antibiotics. |
| Fowl typhoid | Fowl | Contaminated feed, water and litter materials. | Yellowish watery droppings, loss of appetite and ruffled appearance. | Routine vaccination, good sanitation, and treatment of the infected birds with appropriate antibiotics. |
| Fowl cholera | Fowl | Contaminated feed, water and litter. | Ruffled appearance, thirst due to dehydration, blood-stained yellowish watery droppings and sudden death. | Isolate infected birds, maintain good sanitation measures, practise routine vaccination, and treat the infected birds with appropriate antibiotics. |
What are the fungal diseases of livestock?
Fungal diseases are livestock diseases caused by fungi, and the two covered here are ringworm and aspergillosis.
| Fungal disease | Animals affected | Mode of transmission | Symptoms | Control and prevention |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ringworm | Cattle, sheep, goats and rabbits | Contact with contaminated feeders and water troughs. | Lesions (injury, damage, change in texture) in the skin of the animals, irritation of the skin, loss of appetite and weight. | Disinfection of pens and equipment, and treatment of affected parts with sulphur ointment. |
| Aspergillosis (Aspergillus fumigatus) | Poultry birds, pigs and cattle | Contaminated feed (mouldy feed) and mouldy litter. | Difficult breathing, respiratory disorder, loss of appetite, irritation of the skin, high body temperature and loss of weight. | Regular disinfection of the pen and equipment, avoiding mouldy feed, good sanitation and proper hygiene, and spraying fungicide from time to time to kill fungal spores. |
What are the protozoan diseases of livestock?
Protozoan diseases are livestock diseases caused by protozoa, and the three covered here are trypanosomiasis, coccidiosis and redwater fever (piroplasmosis).
| Protozoan disease | Animals affected | Mode of transmission | Symptoms | Control and prevention |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trypanosomiasis | Cattle, sheep and goats | Spread by the blood-sucking tsetse fly, which sucks blood from an infected animal and transmits the pathogen to healthy animals. | Rise in body temperature, dullness in appearance and constant sleeping. | Clearing bushes around the farm to remove the fly habitat, spraying with insecticides to kill vectors, and treatment with trypanocidal drugs such as antimosan. |
| Coccidiosis (Eimeria spp.) | Domestic fowl, duck, goose, turkey, guinea fowl and rabbit | Spread through faeces, litter, feed, water and contaminated soils. | Dropping wings, loss of appetite, blood-stained diarrhoea, emaciation, high mortality, and loss of hair or alopecia (in rabbits). | Proper sanitation, avoiding wet litter and feed, changing the litter used, general disinfection, and using suitable drugs such as amprolium and nitrofurazone in water or other coccidiostats. |
| Redwater fever, also called piroplasmosis (Babesia sp.) | Cattle, sheep, goats and pigs | Transmitted through the bite of a vector called the blue tick. | Rise in body temperature, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, pale red colour of urine, emaciation and death. | Spray with insecticides to kill the vector (blue tick), and inject drugs such as Trypan Blue, Babesan or Phenamidine. |
How are livestock diseases controlled in general?
Most livestock diseases are controlled by vaccination, isolation, sanitation and the removal of vectors.
- Vaccination: used against foot and mouth, rinderpest, Newcastle, fowl pox, Gumboro, anthrax, fowl typhoid and fowl cholera.
- Isolation: sick and suspected animals are kept apart, as in rinderpest, brucellosis and tuberculosis.
- Sanitation and disinfection: clean pens, feed, water and litter reduce the spread of most diseases.
- Killing and burying: badly infected animals are killed and buried where there is no cure, as in anthrax and tuberculosis.
- Vector control: clearing bush and spraying insecticide control the tsetse fly and the blue tick.
- Drugs: antibiotics, coccidiostats and ointments treat some bacterial, protozoan and fungal diseases.
- Healthy feed and stock: avoid mouldy feed and buy chicks from disease-free sources.
Evaluation
- Name the four groups of livestock diseases by cause and give one example of each.
- For Newcastle disease, state the type of organism that causes it, the animals affected, two symptoms and two control measures.
- List three animals affected by brucellosis. State two symptoms of tuberculosis.
- List the two fungal diseases covered in this lesson and state the symptoms of ringworm.
- Name the vector of trypanosomiasis and the vector of redwater fever. Outline three symptoms of coccidiosis.
Assignment
Explain redwater fever under these headings: causal organism, animals affected, mode of transmission, symptoms and control.
This term's Agricultural Science topics
SS3 Second Term · 5 topics
- Agricultural Marketing
- Agricultural Insurance
- Animal Disease
- Animal Diseases II: Bacteria, Fungal & Protozoan Diseases
- Farm Records and Accounts
Get Agricultural Science as PDF and Word
Every week of SS3 Agricultural Science, Second Term, formatted and ready to print. Ad-free, and the copy lock comes off.
Get this term Card, bank transfer, USSD or OPay
SS3 Agricultural Science Lesson Notes for Other Topics
Agricultural Marketing
Read the full lesson note.
Agricultural insurance
Read the full lesson note.
Animal Disease
Read the full lesson note.
Farm Records and Accounts
Read the full lesson note.
Agricultural Extension
Read the full lesson note.
Agricultural Extension II
Read the full lesson note.
Aquaculture
Read the full lesson note.
Aquaculture II - Fishing Gear & Crafts
Read the full lesson note.
Animal Improvement
Read the full lesson note.
Artificial Insemination
Read the full lesson note.
Agricultural Financing
Read the full lesson note.
Agricultural finance II
Read the full lesson note.
Lesson Notes for Other Classes
SS1 Lesson Note
The complete lesson note to guide your studies.
SS2 Lesson Note
The complete lesson note to guide your studies.
