• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.119-124
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• 2021

The report describes an avian mycobacteriosis in a captive wild bird. A 7-year-old female Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus) maintained in a zoo of Korea presented a gradual cachexia and eventually was found dead. At necropsy, severely atrophied pectoral muscles exposing the keel bone were noticed. Yellowish thick nodules in varying sizes were scattered in all lobes of lungs, liver and spleen, suggesting mycobacteriosis. Histopathologically, multifocal to coalescing granulomas surrounded by multinucleated giant cells were observed. Numbers of acid-fast bacilli were revealed in granulomas. Then, a series of molecular diagnostic techniques were followed: a nested PCR, DNA sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. It resulted as Mycobacterium genavense. The identification of M. genavense as an etiological agent suggested that it might serve as a risk factor for other captive wild animals, and for a potential zoonotic risk since M. genavense have been a definite cause of disseminated mycobacterial infection in immunocompromised people. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of avian mycobacteriosis with M. genavense in a captive Indian peafowl.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.59-62
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• 2010

A 2-year-old lineolated parakeet (Bolborhynchus lineola) was presented with abdominal distention and respiratory distress for two months. The bird was poorly fleshed and the liver was enlarged on coelomic palpation. Plain and contrast radiographic examinations exhibited hepatomegaly and distended intestinal loop, which compromised the air sacs. Multifocal hyperechogenecity was observed in the liver on ultrasonography. Postmortem gross examination revealed hepatomegaly with numerous pinpoint tan foci in the hepatic parenchyma and distended small intestine filled with adult ascarids. Microscopically, granulomatous hepatitis and enteritis infected by intrahistiocytic acid-fast bacilli were evident. Polymerase chain reaction indicated that the acid-fast bacilli were Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium.