Cure for herpes virus in turkey’s

[Connie Patton]

I just wanted to post a cure I accidentally came upon for the herpes virus in turkeys. About three years ago my adult Tom started getting sores on his head, caruncles, and snod. I googled different turkey diseases and came across a photo of a turkey with very similar sores that stated it was a type of herpes found in wild birds and passed on to chickens and turkeys but chickens do not typically show these symptoms. It also said most common in the north and I live in Texas. There was no treatment mentioned and death was inevitable in turkeys. I have a history of cold sores myself and had a prescription for Acyclovir 200 mg. I decided to give him my medication. He will die anyway if I don’t try. By this point the sores were so bad they were affecting his vision, breathing, and eating. I began by giving him one pill wrapped in a bread ball twice a day. After about 5 days I was sure the sores looked better and he was willing to eat more. After 9 days I cut back to once a day to finish off the bottle and that would give him two full weeks on the medication. He recovered almost completely. He was left blind in his left eye but otherwise he was 100%. I thought this might have been a fluke until a second Tom turkey a year Later began having the same symptoms but I acted quicker and his did not get as bad and he also made a full recovery. I was happy to have discovered this treatment. Herpes will stay in the soil and because of this I know I can treat them effectively if others contract this disease.

 

[Sonya9]

Yeah I have used a very similar drug, Valtrex, on my chickens. My flock has had Marek's for about 6 years and I lost some birds early on to the typical paralysis symptoms.

Since then I minimize stress but also dose any bird that DOES get really stressed (from an injury, illness or predator attack) with Valtrex for a day or two as a preventative and I haven't had a bird get sick from Marek's since. Marek's often causes severe nerve damage and I doubt the drug could reverse the damage, but it works well to prevent an outbreak or further damage.

From what I read the herpes virus uses an enzyme to infect new cells and Valtrex shuts down that enzyme so the progression of the virus is halted.

 

[FARKESU]

I just wanted to post a cure I accidentally came upon for the herpes virus in turkeys. About three years ago my adult Tom started getting sores on his head, caruncles, and snod. I googled different turkey diseases and came across a photo of a turkey with very similar sores that stated it was a type of herpes found in wild birds and passed on to chickens and turkeys but chickens do not typically show these symptoms. It also said most common in the north and I live in Texas. There was no treatment mentioned and death was inevitable in turkeys. I have a history of cold sores myself and had a prescription for Acyclovir 200 mg. I decided to give him my medication. He will die anyway if I don’t try. By this point the sores were so bad they were affecting his vision, breathing, and eating. I began by giving him one pill wrapped in a bread ball twice a day. After about 5 days I was sure the sores looked better and he was willing to eat more. After 9 days I cut back to once a day to finish off the bottle and that would give him two full weeks on the medication. He recovered almost completely. He was left blind in his left eye but otherwise he was 100%. I thought this might have been a fluke until a second Tom turkey a year Later began having the same symptoms but I acted quicker and his did not get as bad and he also made a full recovery. I was happy to have discovered this treatment. Herpes will stay in the soil and because of this I know I can treat them effectively if others contract this disease.

Very educative, am very grateful! The description matched my experience I will try.

 

[FARKESU]

Yeah I have used a very similar drug, Valtrex, on my chickens. My flock has had Marek's for about 6 years and I lost some birds early on to the typical paralysis symptoms.

Since then I minimize stress but also dose any bird that DOES get really stressed (from an injury, illness or predator attack) with Valtrex for a day or two as a preventative and I haven't had a bird get sick from Marek's since. Marek's often causes severe nerve damage and I doubt the drug could reverse the damage, but it works well to prevent an outbreak or further damage.

From what I read the herpes virus uses an enzyme to infect new cells and Valtrex shuts down that enzyme so the progression of the virus is halted.

Good contribution, am glad!