Abstract

Recently, the issue of how to prevent spreading of bird tuberculosis draws more and more attention. Exotic bird species are often kept in zoo aviaries for many years and therefore can be a hidden infection source not only for other animals, but for the human as well. The main difficulty of decorative bird tuberculosis liquidation is connected with resistance of the pathogen and with low allergic diagnostics accuracy of these birds. Under these conditions, particularly pathomorphological method becomes an important diagnostic method. Moreover, because of the development of chronic bird tuberculosis, cases of sudden death due to the complications of this disease are common. Therefore, detailed thanatogenesis research with conducting dissections of small species of decorative bird corpses can help to establish sectional diagnosis “bird tuberculosis”, even in case of insignificant dissemination of focal pathologies. The purpose of this research is to identify the mechanism of decorative birds’ death (peafowls and pheasants) with different variants of tuberculosis. The task of this research was to detail the death mechanism based on the pathomorphological analysis of the peafowls and pheasants corpses with the various variants of tuberculosis. The materials for the research were 10 corpses of peafowls and pheasants of various species and age groups. The research was performed at the pathological anatomy and dissection department of Kharkov State Veterinary Academy during 2012-2018. A complete pathologoanatomic dissection and pathohistological study using the appropriate fixation methods were conducted. Impression smears from the places of discoverd pathologies were received; they were fixed in methanol and Ziehl-Neelsen stained for the detection of mycobacteria. The research results were supplemented by clinical examination data of the decorative birds which were kept together with the investigated birds. In all cases of the pathohistological study of the affected organs samples from the corpses of pheasants and peafowls tuberculosis-specific granuloma was found. In Ziehl–Neelsen stained smears fuchsin-positive microorganisms were detected. It was established that 40% of peafowls and pheasants corpses had hepatic variant of bird tuberculosis. Basically, thanatogenesis included general cachexia and exsicоsis. In the other 60% of examined birds, the generalized variant of tuberculosis was diagnosed. The dominant pathologies in corpses were the specific multiple nodes with necrosis in the intestinal tube wall, liver, and spleen. The multiple organ failure and the intoxication syndrome were the most important elements in the mechanism of death in these cases. The concomitant pathologies were ectoparasitic invasion and еymeriosis. For one peafowl, despite the generalized variant of tuberculosis while dissection, this pathology could not be clinically suspected. One of the explored female peafowl had tuberculosis arthritis; death came as a result of the shock of pain.

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