Emerging trends on epidemiology of infectious coryza disease in Mashonaland West Province of Zimbabwe

Abstract

Infectious coryza disease is an upper respiratory disease of avian species, commonly affecting
chickens. It is caused by Avibacterium paragallinarum, a gram-negative bacterium. Infectious
coryza poses a threat to the economy due to increased culling rates of infected chickens and a
decrease in egg production of up to 40%. This study aimed to determine the spatial and temporal
distribution of Infectious Coryza disease in Mashonaland West Province of Zimbabwe across
seven districts from 2018- 2021, with a focus on disease prevalence and risk assessment. A
retrospective method was used using a database obtained from the Central Veterinary
Laboratory, which indicated infectious coryza disease cases in Mashonaland West Province of
Zimbabwe. Data was examined using correlation analysis to determine the relationships between
the total number of cases and deaths, and chi-square test to evaluate infectious coryza prevalence
across districts .Prevalence of infectious coryza among districts was significant (p<0.05 )for the
period of 2018 -2021.Low disease incidence was reported in 2018 across all the seven districts
;2019 had a peak increase of infectious coryza disease prevalence across all the districts with
Zvimba district having cases above 2500.A weak correlation between total cases and deaths (co
efficient 0.115 ), not statistically significant (p> 0.05), indicating other factors influencing the
mortality rates. These findings highlight the need to improve management practices and
vaccination programs in poultry production across Mashonaland West Province of Zimbabwe.