A percentage of birds become asymptomatic carriers. Both these bacterial infections produce foamy, watery eyes, discharge from the nostrils, and sometimes swollen sinuses. Unlike fowl cholera, deaths rarely occur. Affected chicks and poults do not grow well, and the flock appears uneven in size. Treatment and Prevention Appropriately administered antibiotics may be effective in alleviating signs of disease, but do not affect carrier status.
Vaccines are available.
Mycoplasmas also are transmitted by the egg to hatchlings from infected breeders. It is very important to know if your hatchery tests for mycoplasmosis in their breeding stock. The majority of commercial poultry breeding and hatchery operations are involved with regular testing of their breeding stock for egg-transmitted diseases. Signs Mycoplasma bacteria produce respiratory illnesses indistinguishable in most cases from chicken or turkey coryza. Uncomplicated mycoplasmosis rarely kills affected birds, but serious secondary bacterial infections are common.