Veterinary Services

Poultry

A six-month-old Hamburg hen was the fourth bird to die from a batch of 40 birds. A slight watery ocular discharge was noted and plugs of mucus were found in the trachea. A profuse growth of Pasteurella multocida was isolated from the trachea, and a scanty growth of the same organism was recovered from the liver. Respiratory pasteurellosis was diagnosed. In addition 2500 Heterakis/Ascaridia worm eggs were present per gram faeces

Pigeons

Pigeon paramyxovirus 1 (PPMV-1) infection was confirmed by virus isolation in a bird that died from an unvaccinated loft of pigeons in the west of Scotland. High mortality and polyuria was reported, but neurological signs were absent. Independent reports were received that clinical signs suggestive of PPMV-1 infection were noted in feral pigeons in several towns and cities in the west of Scotland. PPMV-1 is a notifiable disease in captive birds, and the Divisional Veterinary Manager of Animal Health was informed.

Loss of weight, inappetence and death was reported in a collection of fancy pigeons. Large numbers of hairworm eggs were detected in their faeces.

Wild birds

Deaths from trichomonosis continued to be seen in chaffinches (Fringilla coelebs) and greenfinches (Carduelis choris).

Six Bewick’s swans (Cygnus columbianus) were found dead adjacent to a pond in East Lothian. All the birds had dry white plaques on the airsacs and viscera, and hard white nodules were scattered throughout the lungs and kidneys. Aspergillus fumigatus was isolated in profuse pure growth from the plaques and lungs, and a diagnosis of aspergillosis was made. Avian influenza virus was not detected.

A necrotic enterocolitis was found at postmortem examination of an adult mute swan (Cygnus olor), a long-term resident of an urban pond. The findings were typical of those associated with a Clostridium perfringens infection but it was not possible to identify C. perfringens in the mixed growth obtained on anaerobic culture.