Clausridium

[henpecked]

I think that's how you spell it. Bacterial . I've lost 3 amazons in 3 wks. I've been out of town and the wife has been looking after the birds. These birds were immmature breeders, unpaired,in outside aviary. Their cages are only inches apart. 1st bird was a hen OWA that i'd hatched 6 yrs old. 2nd was a 8yr old DYH male. And when i got home yesterday a 8 yr old OWA hen who was a favorite. All of the zons where active ,happy,normal when fed in the AM and dead in the bottom of the cage in the PM.The next bird in line is a very valuable hen Pan. The last bird (Marlin) 8yr old hen OWA i took to the best AV around for a necropcy . It cost me 500 dollars and can't expect results for 7-10 days. Marlin's digestive tract was full of what appeared to be green leafy matter. Vet could not explain what it could be, she'd been fed zero green matter. Liver appeared large and unhealthy with white spots.

Unhappy with the AV i called around to a couple of amazon breeders looking for answers. Howard Voren refeered me to his vet who at 10 pm took the time to call me and ask many questions. Tonight at midnight i'm headed to the vets to pick up the body of Marlin and take it to The vet 5 hours away who says ,"i;ve seen this before and it's bacterial. I'll culture some samples and check to be sure but you need to start the other birds on flagjol.

The green leafy matter is bile ,backed up when the liver failed from the bacterial infection.

If you have imput into this subject ,please feel free to commit. I'll be driving to the other side of fla tonight . Fingers crossed for answers, thank the lord for folks like Dr Backos who cares enough to help out folks like me.

 

[Kiwibird]

I am so sorry you've lost 3 of your birds. The bacteria is called clostridium and it can infect humans as well. Antibiotics are the only treatment. More info- Clostridium

Hope you don;t loose any more birds

 

[Chelle]

I am so sorry for the loss of your birds! I hope you get this figured out so you can save your other bird!

 

[henpecked]

I am so sorry you've lost 3 of your birds. The bacteria is called clostridium and it can infect humans as well. Antibiotics are the only treatment. More info- Clostridium

Hope you don;t loose any more birds

Thanks for that. We're working hard to fix things. it's so very hard to lose birds that you've spent years raising. They're like your children.

 

[henpecked]

Here's the report from the first vetMPA I 3000 Busch Lake Blvd, Tampa FL 33614 P 813.933.8944 F 813.936.9595
BRANDON I 607 Lumsden Professional Ct, Brandon FL 33511 P 813.571.3303 F 813.571.3373
CLEARWATER I 4525 Ulmerton Rd, Clearwater FL 33762 P 727.572.0132 F 727.572.4365
SARASOTA I 7414 South Tamiami Trail, Sarasota FL 34231 P 877.838.5909 F 877.874.6882
Patient Record #: 282740 Patient Name: Marlin
Owner Name: Richard West DOB: 3/27/2006
Owner Phone: Gender: Female Breed: Amazon, Orange Wing
RDVM: Teresa Lightfoot Referring Hospital: BluePearl - Tampa
RDVM Phone: ( ) - RDVM Fax:
Visit Report
BluePearl Veterinary Partners - Tampa
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Reason for visit:
* Passed away suddenly - lost 3 of 4 birds in 1 row of an aviary in 3 weeks.
History:
* Three Birds (1 double yellow head introduced 2 years ago) and2 orange wing amazons (siblings bred on property)
passed away within the last 3 weeks without any lead up of clinical signs of illness. An older Panama Amazon, wild
caught originally, is still alive and is not showing signs of illness at this time. All 4 birds lived either in the same cage or
in caging directly adjacent one another, away from other birds in the aviary.
* All birds eat KT Exact Natural pellets and veggies. They are fed and cared for only by the owners - attitude, food
consumption and dropping are monitored daily. There is nothing new in the aviary, with husbandry or the surrounding
environment. The aviary is enclosed by a tent. No history of toxins, recent construction, toys, hoses, water sources,
etc. The birds in the affected part of the aviary have no contact with the birds in the other parts. There are no known
illnesses in any of the birds in the aviary. The owners also have poultry and an extensive indoor collection of birds,
none of which are symptomatic at this time.
Post Mortem Physical Examination:
Weight 310g
MM: pale pink.
CV: Fluid coagulated around the heart and pericardium in small amounts < 1ml. Associated vessels soft and flexible
w/o signs of overt mineralization/thickening.
Pulm: Lungs pink and normally formed within the confines of the ribs. Airsacs opaque with injected vessels. Trachea
clear w/o fluid or redness on cut section along its length
EENT: Clear w/o d/c OU/AU/Nose. Papilla normal over choanal slit.
MS: BCS 6/9 - very mildly overweight with excellent muscle stores. No overt abnormalities or decreased ROM found
in any joints - body still cool and mildly stiff. Normal wing extension x2. Normal rhinotheca and gnathotheca.
Int: Excellent skin and feather coverage/quality. Normal integument across feet. Sharp nails not elongated for an
outdoor bird.
Abd/GI: Soft, concave. Ventrally displaced ventriculus. See below for Liver and other organs. Once opened severe
adhesions engulfing nearly all organs into a tight ball found. Adhesions were broken down to properly evaluate
coelomic contents.
Crop: Empty, not thickened
UG: Female intact, non-active ovary, only left ovary identified
Cloaca: No papillomas or other abnormalities seen. Normal fecal and urinate production.
Liver: Severe hepatomegaly with Rounded, Pale, and Mottled with White Patches
Proventriculus: Full of a finely ground plant like green material - Owner are unaware of what this could be
Ventriculus: Full of the same ground plant like green material, normal kolin layer
Proximal duodenum: Red, inflammed, hemorrhagic mucosal lining
Remainder of SI: Mucoid brown liquid in lumen.
Large Intestines: No overt abnormalities found
Pancreas: normal in appearance
Spleen: Moderately enlarged
Adrenals: Small, slightly thin and rubbery - may or may not be normal for species and age of body decomposition
Kidneys: dark and prominent
Brain: No significant findingsProblem list:
* Multiple deaths (3) in 1 row of birds (4) in a closed aviary (last bird introduced 2 years prior) without clinical signs of
illness prior to death
* Severe hepatomegaly with Rounded, Pale, and Mottled with White Patches
* Moderately enlarged spleen
* Severe Intracoelomic Adhesion Formation
* Airsacs opaque with injected vessels
* Unknown green material within proventriculus / ventriculus
* Hemorrhagic proximal duodenum
* Small amount of fluid around the heart and pericardium
Samples Taken:
* Liver
* Airsacs
* Spleen
* Duodenum w/Pancreas
* Ovary w/Kidney and Adrenal
* Stomach contents
* Brain
* Lung
* Trachea
* Duodenal contents on 2 culture swabs - one in and one out of gel
Differential Diagnosis:
r/o Infectious vs Toxic vs Other
Recommendations:
Diagnostics
* Gross Necropsy
* Full histopathology
* Culture with Sensitivity of Intestinal Contents
Plan:
Diagnostics
* Gross Necropsy: See above
* Histopathology on the Liver with Hold on Other Tissue Samples
Treatments
* Based on Above after Evaluation of Other Birds - Evaluation of the other live bird declined at this time but may be
done pending above results
Discharge Instructions:
* At this time we have extensively discussed the findings on necropsy and the plan elected is to send out the liver and
see if we are able to get an answer as to what is affecting this row of birds in your aviary - Please know your
husbandry is excellent and this isn't something you did. Please use the strict quarantine procedures as discussed to
help prevent spread of this potential infectious disease to your other birds. Once we better understand what is
affecting these birds, we will be able to better direct you on how to manage your others. Take any signs of illness in
any of your other birds seriously and have them evaluated as soon as possible - we can do x-rays and blood work to
tailor a treatment plan in helping them. We cannot say you will not have more deaths in your flock - please keep us
well posted on how things are going at home and with any new information that may help add pieces to this puzzle.
We will contact you as soon as the results of the liver histopathology are back - typically about 7-10 days.
Do not hesitate to contact your primary care veterinarian, our Avian and Exotic Animal Department, or after hours with
our ER department, if there is not improvement, there is decline, or you a.

 

[TessieB]

Clostridium is nasty, nasty, nasty. The veterinary world is seeing resistant strains of all types of bacteria, so if the lab does find which strain you have, hopefully they can also do sensitivity tests to determing which antibiotic will stop it.

Losing birds when you are doing everything right is tough. Hopefully you won't lose anymore birds.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Oh Capt, I'm sitting here crying after reading this.

"Sorry" is too small of a word to even utter. I'm heartbroken with you and Josie.

I can't even begin to imagine how you must be feeling.

Many many hugs to you and Josie!!

 

[henpecked]

3 Different AVs in 3 days. I've been carting birds(live and dead) and tissue samples all over the state of Fla. I think i've found the right AV over on the east coast,4hrs away. Anyway i have several pathologist doing test and growing cultures. Still, will be mid week at the earliest before i have good info on what i'm dealing with and what's sensitive to. (what drugs to use). Closridium seems to be the first guess but time will tell. Extreme quarantine measures ineffect here and everyone is on pins and needles. Taking blood samples and swabs on several of the other birds in the aviary to send out. Of course , they are all paired breeder birds who have no issues with removing large chunks of meat from me. Change clothes outside and take an outside shower. Throw my "slaps' (slippers) in a bucket of clorax. Sterilizing everything everyday. Praying i don't lose any more zons. Josie is stressing enough over the losses and worried about the future. I have to go back out of town working,(so i can pay more vet bills) i'll try to keep things updated.

 

[Terry57]

I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your beloved birds
I pray that one of the vets is able to get to the bottom of it soon, and that no others are affected.

 

[Kiwibird]

I'm hoping that the outbreak stops here. I'm sure with a good vet on your side, you will find out what the disease is and find a treatment. I'm really hoping your other birds come out illness free too

 

[JerseyWendy]

Thank you for the update, Capt. Hugs and prayers to all of you!!! If there is ANYTHING I can do, please holler!

 

[henpecked]

Thanks everyone, we're working very hard and spending huge amount s of money to do the right things. I just wish i could get answers quicker. The good thing is i'm making contacts with great avian vets and learning alot. Sam Backus in Deerfield Bch Fla is truly 1st class and a god send. Where some more local AVs are charging me 150-250$ for test ,he charges 36$. He gave me tons of supplies for testing/taking samples and his cell phone #. he's an Avian only vet who does zoos,breeders,USDA inspection Stations, etc. He does his own lab work inhouse and has a pathologist (among many others)on staff. He works nights,weekends,etc and can't have much of a life outside of parrots. My kind of guy.

 

[getwozzy]

Ohmygoodness Capt, I'm so sorry you and Josie are going through this

I'm praying you find answers soon and that you don't lose anyone else to whatever this is.

If there's anything I can do from the west coast, please let me know!

 

[Gizmomania]

I'm SO sorry. Hoping that the rest of your flock will remain in good health. They're very fortunate to have you as their caregiver.

 

[crimson]

holy crow, that is terrible, I am so sorry for your losses!
it sounds like you are doing everything humanly possible, lets hope you get the answers sooner than later.

I have never heard of this before, here is some info:

http://www.avianbiotech.com/Diseases/Clostridium.htm