Professional paper
Avian mycobacteriosis
Ivan Conrado Šoštarić-Zuckermann
; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb
Abstract
Avian mycobacteriosis is a chronic disease caused by “non-tuberculous“ and “non-lepromatous“ members of Mycobacterium genus. It is a disease that occurs today mostly in pet and zoo birds, and poultry under extensive management. Clinically, the disease is commonly missed and undiagnosed in vivo due to the often nonspecific symptoms – e.g. cachexia and anorexia. The diagnosis is therefore usually made post mortally. Grossly, it is typical to find numerous nodular lesions that microscopically correspond to granulomas, with larger central areas of necrosis and numerous mycobacteria, which are usually only visible after staining with special stains. Such lesions are usually found in the liver, spleen, intestine, bone marrow, and, according to newer studies, also in the lungs. Bacterial culture and molecular methods can be used as a final confirmation of the diagnosis. Using one case from a routine postmortem investigation, this short review deals mostly with the gross and histological appearance of this disease, but also its pathogenesis, diagnosis, and differential diagnoses.
Keywords
Mycobacteria; granuloma; mandarin duck
Hrčak ID:
245242
URI
Publication date:
5.10.2020.
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