Department of Pathology and Veterinary Diagnostics, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 159c Nowoursynowska St. 02-776, Warsaw, Poland.
Department of Genetics and Animal Breeding, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 8 Ciszewskiego St. 02-786, Warsaw, Poland.
Avian Dis. 2020 Sep 1;64(3):335-342. doi: 10.1637/aviandiseases-D-19-00148.
Mycobacteriosis caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium was observed in a parental loft of 70 meat-breed pigeons. It was decided to undertake treatment as the birds represented a substantial value to the owner. A multiagent therapy using azithromycin, marbofloxacin, and ethambutol was administered. After 4 mo of therapy, the desired results were not obtained. At the end of treatment, the birds were in poor general condition, with white blood cells above 20 g/L, and after clutching, 2-yr-old and older birds were euthanatized. Overall, postmortem lesions were found in 17 out of 49 necropsied individuals. Slide agglutination tests with a M. avium subsp. avium lysate were conducted in all examined pigeons. In 28 pigeons, blood count was conducted once a month during therapy, while in 24 pigeons, a tuberculin sensitivity test was conducted before the planned euthanatization. The tuberculin sensitivity test did not prove useful in the diagnosis of ill individuals. Slide agglutination yielded positive results in only four birds, all of which also had postmortem lesions. Blood count in a large number of cases allowed distinguishing between ill and healthy individuals, which was used for subsequent selection. The comparison of cultured strains with the (CCG)4-based PCR method showed the variation of M. avium isolates up to a maximum of 30%. The described case proves that the treatment of mycobacteriosis in pigeon flocks is not effective, mainly due to the high resistance to M. avium subsp. avium. In addition, therapy may contribute to an even greater increase in mycobacterial resistance to antibiotics, which may pose a potential risk to public health.
父母鸽舍中的 70 只肉鸽发生了鸟分枝杆菌亚种感染。由于这些鸽子对主人具有重要价值，因此决定进行治疗。使用阿奇霉素、马波沙星和乙胺丁醇进行了联合治疗。经过 4 个月的治疗，未获得预期效果。治疗结束时，鸽子的一般状况不佳，白细胞计数超过 20 g/L，在握爪后，2 岁以上的鸽子被安乐死。总共在 49 只剖检个体中发现了 17 例尸检病变。对所有检查的鸽子进行了鸟分枝杆菌亚种裂解物的玻片凝集试验。在 28 只鸽子中，在治疗期间每月进行一次血液计数，而在 24 只鸽子中，在计划安乐死之前进行了结核菌素敏感性试验。结核菌素敏感性试验在诊断患病个体方面没有证明有用。只有 4 只鸽子的玻片凝集试验结果呈阳性，这 4 只鸽子均有尸检病变。大量病例的血液计数有助于区分患病和健康个体，这用于后续选择。培养菌株与基于（CCG）4 的 PCR 方法的比较显示分枝杆菌分离株的变化最大可达 30%。所述病例证明，鸽群中分枝杆菌病的治疗效果不佳，主要是由于对鸟分枝杆菌亚种的高度耐药性。此外，治疗可能导致分枝杆菌对抗生素的耐药性进一步增加，这可能对公共卫生构成潜在威胁。
