Nocardiosis in domestic pigeons (Columba livia)

Abstract

NOCARDIOSIS has a worldwide distribution and has been reported in various species of mammals, fish and birds (Beaman 1984, Bolon and others 1989, Megid and others 1990, Panigraphy and Senne 1991, Boiron and others 1993, Biberstein and Hirsh 1999, Chen and others 2000. Among birds, the disease has been observed in parrots, birds of prey, passeriformes, black crakes (Limnocorax flavirostra) and mynahs (Cooper 1973, Panigraphy and Senne 1991, Baumgartner and others 1994, Bacciarini and others 1999. The disease is of zoonotic importance, and it has been estimated that more than 1000 human cases of the disease are diagnosed each year in the USA (Schaal 1992). The frequency of nocardial diseases has increased over the past 20 years (Grange 2002). To the authors' knowledge there have been no reports of the occurrence and pathology of nocardiosis in pigeons. This short communication describes an outbreak of nocardiosis in domestic pigeons (Columba livia).Sixty-seven of 250 pigeons (26·8 per cent) 12 to 18 months of age died over a period of one year, singly or a few at a time, in a private pigeonry in Srinagar, in the Kashmir valley of India. The birds were reared for racing. The pigeons had also been procured from Delhi and from the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir state. They were maintained on grains of maize (Zea mays), bajra (Pennisetum typhoideum), wheat (Triticum sativum) and gram (Cicer arietinum), depending on their availability. The affected pigeons had lameness, drooping wings, depression, gasping and emaciation. External examination of the birds revealed yellowish nodules on the wing joints, humerus, radius, ulna, hock, tarsal and metatarsal joints, and on the skin. The nodules were sometimes enucleable, having a hard consistency. Removal of the skin of dead birds revealed the presence of nodules in the skin, mostly in the neck region. At postmortem examination, yellowish nodules were observed in the liver, lungs, air sacs, on the thoracic wall, pericardium and bones, with darkcentred, necrotic areas. Splenomegaly was additionally observed. Representative tissues from various organs, showing lesions were collected into 10 per cent formol saline; bones were processed after routine decalcification in formic acid-sodium citrate solution.Material collected from the liver, lungs and bone nodules was homogenised and cultured on blood agar plates containing 5 per cent sheep blood. These were incubated aerobically at 37°C for up to five to 10 days. Samples were also cultured on Sabouraud's dextrose agar. The characteristics of any colonies were noted, and the organisms were stained with Gram stain.After fixation, tissues were embedded in paraffin wax and 5 µm sections were cut and stained with Harris's haematoxylin and eosin (Luna 1968). Subsequently, sections were stained with Brown and Brenn Gram stain, the Ziehl-Neelsen and Fite methods for acid-fast organisms (Luna 1968) and the toludine blue-A rapid method (Humason 1979) for demonstrating mast cells. This was followed by the chrysoidin method (Harada 1957), f...

First case report of fatal Nocardia nova infection in yellow-bibbed lory (Lorius chlorocercus) identified by multilocus sequencing

“…In one of the reports, in situ hybridization was performed on the histological section [2]. Similar to the present case, multiple organs of the birds were infected in 6 reports [1, 3–5, 7, 12]. In the 13 reports, birds of 10 different families have been involved.…”

“…The present report is the first one which a yellow-bibbed lory ( Lorius chlorocercus , a parrot in the family Loriidae ) was infected. Similar to the previous two outbreaks [3, 4], the exact source of the infection is still obscure in the present study but is presumed to be environmental. Testing of food and soil samples was negative for Nocardia growth, but exhaustive sampling of other components in the habitat such as vegetation was not performed.…”

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Case Report: Bilateral Nocardial Endophthalmitis in a Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea)

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Major bacterial diseases in aquaculture and their vaccine development.

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