Causative agent 
- Riemerella (Pasteurella) anatipestifer



Differential diagnosis 
- Duck cholera
- Colibacillosis
- Salmonellosis
- Duck virus hepatitis



1. History taking 
- Contagious respiratory disease
- Ducks are highly susceptible to infection specially
  duckling from 1 to 8 weeks old
- May occur in other water fowl, pheasant, quail and
  especially in turkey
- High mortality in poor sanitary codition



2. Clinical examination 
- Diarrhea
- Ocular and mucosal nasal discharge
- Mild coughing and sneezing
- Ataxia, tremor of head and neck, torticollis and
  coma, death usually results
- Mortality ranges from 2 to 30% but can approach
  95%



3. Necropsy 
- Fibrinous exudate, involving serosal surface of
  visceral organs, such as fibrinous pericarditis,
  fibrinous hepatitis,airsacculitis,caseous salpingitis

- Swollen liver and spleen
- Caseous pneumonia and fibrinous meningitis



4. Histopathological observation 
- Mononuclear cells infiltration in periportal area,
  cloudy swelling and hydropic degeneration of
  parenchymal cell of liver
- Mononuclear cell infiltration of pericardium and
  airsac
- Diffused fibrinous miningitis with leukocyte
  infiltration
- Interstitial cellular infiltration and proliferation of
  lymphoid nodule of bronchiole in lung



5. Bacterial isolation 
Specimen : internal organs including brain, thoraxic
                  thoracic fluid and abdominal fluid
Medium    : tryptic soy agar with 5-10% sheep
                  blood, trypic soy broth with 0.3% yeast
                  extract
- Culture  : blood agar incubated under 5-10% CO₂
                  condition for 18 - 24 hr at 37°C
- Colony   : moderate size, round, gray and convex
- Morphology : Gram negative, oval or short rod

Treatment and control 
- Vaccination with inactivated vaccine at 1-2 weeks
  of age
- Isolation of the sick birds
- Antibiotic treatment for close contact birds