The genus
The 46 samples tested (Table I) were collected over ten years from 37 dead and nine live birds originating mainly from Warsaw (Poland) and nearby areas. In the necropsied birds, except for one case, when the cause of death was a mechanical injury, advanced mycobacteriosis was diagnosed as the main cause of death. From the necropsied animals, liver samples were collected for microbiological and molecular examination. Samples from living birds were taken from areas affected by lesions associated with the disease. In three peafowl with symptoms of dyspnoea, tracheal swabs were collected. In two falcons, samples from abscesses localized within the subcutaneous tissue of the legs were collected. Faecal samples were taken from canaries and finches. These birds came from breeding sites in which cases of canary death due to mycobacteriosis had been reported earlier. Microscopic examinations of individually collected faeces from these aviaries allowed identification of carriers. Moreover, the presence of leukocytosis with neutrophilia and monocytosis confirmed active infection in those birds.
Microorganisms present in the materials taken from birds with recognized mycobacteriosis.
Avian species with diagnosed mycobacteriosis | No. of birds/AFB + samples | No. of cultured samples | Mycobacterium species (No. of isolates) |
---|---|---|---|
Ornamental chickens ( | 8/8 | 8 | |
Indian peafowl ( | 5/3 | 5 | |
Pheasants ( | 5/5 | 4 + 1* | |
Turkey ( | 1/1 | 1 | |
Red-fronted parakeet ( | 3/3 | 2 1 | |
Barred parakeet ( | 1/1 | 1* | |
Fischer’s lovebird | 1/1 | 1 | |
Budgerigar ( | 1/1 | 1* | |
Cockatiel ( | 1/1 | 0 | |
Atlantic canary ( | 5/5 | 2* 1** | |
Goldfinch ( | 1/1 | 0 | |
Bengalese finch ( | 2/2 | 1* 1 | |
Common buzzard ( | 2/2 | 1 1* | |
Peregrine falcon ( | 2/2 | 2 | |
Rock pigeon ( | 3/3*** | 3 | |
Common wood pigeon ( | 2/2 | 2* | |
Rook ( | 2/2 | 2 | |
Total: 46 | 45/43 | 40 | (46)** |
Lack of growth on media for drug resistance testing
In one necropsied canary coinfection with
In one case of mycobacteriosis in a pigeon flock,
Samples that did not grow on the Löwenstein-Jansen medium (Becton Dickinson, USA) were cultured onto the Middlebrook 7H9 (Becton Dickinson, USA) liquid medium supplemented with 2 mg/l Mycobactin J (Allied Monitor, Fayette, USA) (Coyle et al. 1992) for 20 weeks. Identification of samples from which no culture was obtained or were grown on the media with Mycobactin J was performed using SYBR® Green real-time PCR specific for
Mycobacteriosis was found in 46 birds belonging to 17 bird species (Table I). Gallinaceous birds were diagnosed with only
Drug resistance of 28 strains of
Drug* | SM | INH | RFP | EMB | CPM | OFLOX | CS | ETH | SXT | CFM | RIF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Susceptible | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 25 | 3 | 8 | 27 | 10 |
Moderately susceptible | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
Moderately resistant | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 8 |
Resistant | 4 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 5 | 28 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 10 |
No data** | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
SM – streptomycin, RFP – rifampicin, INH – isoniazid, EMB – ethambutol, CPM – capreomycin, OFLOX – ofloxacin, CS – cycloserine, ETH – ethionamide, SXT – sulfamethoxazole + trimethoprim, CFM – clofazimine, RIF – rifabutin
Number of strains which did not demonstrate any growth on the media used for the assessment of drug resistance
Drug susceptibility of three
Drug*s | SM | INH | RFP | EMB | CPM | OFLOX | CS | ETH | SXT | CFM | RIF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Susceptible | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Resistant | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
No data** | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
SM – streptomycin, RFP – rifampicin, INH – isoniazid, EMB – ethambutol, CPM – capreomycin, OFLOX – ofloxacin, CS – cycloserine, ETH – ethionamide, SXT – sulfamethoxazole + trimethoprim, CFM – clofazimine, RIF – rifabutin
Number of strains which did not demonstrate any growth on the media used for the assessment of drug susceptibility