A Retrospective Study (2004-2008) of Poultry Diseases Diagnosed in Veterinary Teaching Hospital (Vth), Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto (Udus) and Sokoto Veterinary Centre (Svc), Sokoto State, Nigeria

A retrospective study of clinical records in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto (VTH-UDUS) and Sokoto Veterinary Centre (SVC) was carried out to establish the occurrence and distribution of poultry diseases over the period of five years (2004-2008). A total of 1,034 cases were recorded out of which 337 (32.9%) was Infectious bursal disease (IBD), 147 (14.0%) was coccidiosis, while 128 (12.4%) and 102 (9.9%) were Newcastle disease (NCD) and Fowl typhoid (FT) respectively. Other diseases/conditions with lower occurrences include Fowl cholera (FC), Malnutrition/starvation and the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) with 33 (3.2%), 17 (1.6%) and 2 (0.26%) cases respectively. The highest prevalence of 50% (515 cases) was indicated in viral diseases and the least was from malnutrition/starvation with only 1.6 % (17 cases) recoded. Dry period represented the period of increased disease occurrence of 71% (788 cases) which on comparison to that of dry season 29 % (246 cases) revealed statistically a significant difference (p＜0.05) by the Chi-square analysis. The years 2005 and 2008 recorded the highest 272 (26%) and the lowest 127 (12.3%) disease occurrences respectively. Poor management, inappropriate vaccine handling and self medication practices by the poultry farmers in conjunction with lack of facilities and awareness on diagnostic laboratory services may be associated with the distribution pattern of cases recorded in the clinics.