Erysipelothrix Rhusiopathiae Infection in an Emu (Dromaius Novaehollandiae)

Abstract

The emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) is a large flightless bird native to Australia. It belongs to the ratite group, which also includes ostriches, rheas, and cassowaries. The emu is reared commercially for its meat, oil, and skin; the skin is made into a high quality leather used in the manufacture of boots, handbags, etc. Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae infection occurs widely in nature. In its septicemic form, the disease is commonly designated as erysipelas. It has most frequently been reported in pigs, but natural infections have been reported in sheep, cows, horses, dogs, and mice. 6 Wildlife known to play host to E. rhusiopathiae include the opossum 7 and white-tailed deer. 3 Erysipelothrix has also been isolated from fish, fish slime, and shellfish. 6 Erysipelothrix infections have been reported in chukars, 4 various wild birds, 1 waterfowl, and domestic chickens and turkeys. 2 There is only one reported case of Erysipelothrix infection in emus. 5 This is the first documented case of Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae infection in emus in North America. An 18-month-old male emu weighing 28.5 kg was submitted to the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission Diagnostic Laboratory for necropsy within 12 hours of death. The bird was 1 of 11 penmates hatched on site. The clinical description was of a listless bird slumping into a sitting posture 11 hours before death. It could rise from recumbency when urged. Pink material had been observed by the owner in the bird's feces, and the emu had been described as vomiting prior to death. The 10 surviving emus in the pen showed no signs of illness then or subsequently. Necropsy examination revealed a firm, swollen liver and an enlarged spleen (2.5 × 10 cm) that was dark red and soft. The proventriculus contained gray inspissated mucus. The gizzard was empty except for a few ounces of irregularly shaped brown pebbles. The distal small intestine had segmentally reddened serosa. The wall was thickened, and the lumen contained a pink exudate that formed a cast around the scant fecal material present. The meningeal vessels of the brain were prominent. The kidneys were dark red and soft. Swabs from the liver, spleen, heart, and kidney were aerobically cultured at 37 C on tryptic soy agar a with 5% sheep erythrocytes, MacConkey agar a and Columbia CNA agar a with 5% sheep erythrocytes. In addition, portions of the organs and intestine were cultured for Salmonella by incubating macerated tissues in selenite brilliant green enrichment broth with sulfa a at 37 C. This enrichment was followed by culture

Hepatitis associated with Clostridium difficile in an ostrich chick

“…Clostridium difficile was probably responsible for the liver lesions. No other bacteria, such as C. perfringens, C. sordelli, Salmonella or Campylobacter, which have been associated with hepatitis in ratites, especially ostriches, were isolated from the liver of the ostrich chick (Post et al, 1991;Shivaprasad, 1993;Morgan et al, 1994;Vanhooser & Welsh, 1995;Poonacha & Donahue, 1997). No viruses were isolated from the liver.…”

A review article on avian Erysipelas infection: An occupational disease of one health importance

“…Although Erysipelothrix infection in the wild birds is sporadic, some massive outbreaks have been reported in Eared Grebes of the Great Salt Lake (Jensen and Cotter, 1976). Free ranging wild and captive birds such as racing pigeons (Cousquer, 2005), quails (Mutalib et al, 1995), emus (Swan and Lindsey, 1998;Morgan et al, 2011), pheasants (Milne et al, 1997;Hennig et al, 2006), chukar partridge (Pettit et al, 1976), malleefowl (Blyde and Woods, 1999), parrots (Livingston et al, 2013), chukars (Butcher and Panigrahy, 1985), Hawaiian crow (Work et al, 1999), blue penguin (Boerner et al, 2004), endangered kakapo (Gartrell et al, 2005), laughing kookaburra (Opriessnig et al, 2005), takahe, kiwi, and black stilts (Alley and Gartrell, 2019) showed infections with E. rhusiopathiae.…”

The detection and recovery of Erysipelothrix spp. in meat and abattoir samples in Western Australia

“…The organism is distributed worldwide and has been isolated from many species of wild and domestic mammals and birds, as well as from reptiles, amphibians and fish (Shuman 1971; Reboli and Farrar 1992). Diseases of economic importance in animals include: swine erysipelas, which presents as skin lesions, acute septicaemia and chronic arthritis; polyarthritis, commonly seen in sheep and lambs (Conklin and Steele 1979); and erysipelas of farmed turkeys, chickens and emus (Blackmore and Gallagher 1964; Morgan et al . 1994).…”