MULTIPLE EPIDEMICS IN AUSTRIAN FRINGILLIDAE CAUSED BY A SINGLE VARIANT OF SALMONELLA TYPHIMURIUM

In Austria, numerous deaths of wild birds of the order Passeriformes, family Fringillidae, occurred during the winter months of 2010 and 2012. The Eurasian Siskin (Carduelis spinus) was the species most often affected. The dead birds were mainly found in the immediate vicinity of feeding places. Vig...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of wildlife diseases Vol. 57; no. 4; pp. 891 - 899
Main Authors Brunthaler, René, Spergser, Joachim, Weissenböck, Herbert
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Wildlife Disease Association 01.10.2021
Subjects
Animals
Austria
Austria - epidemiology
Bird Diseases - microbiology
Epidemics
Eurasian Siskins
Fringillidae
Macrorhabdus ornithogaster
Passeriformes - microbiology
PATHOLOGY
Salmonella Infections, Animal - epidemiology
Salmonella Typhimurium
wild birds
Austria
wild birds
Austria
Eurasian Siskins
Fringillidae
Macrorhabdus ornithogaster
Salmonella Typhimurium
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:In Austria, numerous deaths of wild birds of the order Passeriformes, family Fringillidae, occurred during the winter months of 2010 and 2012. The Eurasian Siskin (Carduelis spinus) was the species most often affected. The dead birds were mainly found in the immediate vicinity of feeding places. Vigilant citizens sent birds (n=34) for pathologic examination to the Institute of Pathology in Vienna, Austria. All birds were cachectic or in a very poor nutritional condition. At gross examination, the most striking findings were multifocal to confluent, yellow-white nodules in the crop or esophageal mucosa. In histologically examined birds (n=24), severe transmural fibrino-purulent to necrotizing ingluviitis or esophagitis with large amounts of intralesional bacteria was observed. Bacteriologic examination of crop, liver, or other organs from 14 birds revealed abundant growth of Salmonella serovar Typhimurium (antigenic formula 1,4,5,12:i:1,2; phage type U277) in all individuals. By means of immunohistochemistry, these bacteria were detected not only in crop mucosa but also in lung tissue. In 17 birds (71%), structures morphologically resembling Macrorhabdus ornithogaster were detected histologically on the surface of the proventricular epithelium. Thus, the cause of mass mortality of the passerine birds was identified as infection with Salmonella Typhimurium, which was associated with growth of presumed M. ornithogaster in many cases.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:0090-3558
1943-3700
DOI:10.7589/JWD-D-20-00178