Yersiniosis in farmed deer

Samples from 77 chital (Axis axis), 42 fallow (Dama dama), 26 red (Cervus elaphus), 7 rusa (Cervus timorensis) and 1 sambar deer (Cervus unicolor) were examined. Yersinia pseudotuberculosis infection was diagnosed as the cause of death in 6 (23%) of the red and 23 (30%) of the chital deer. Yersiniosis was the most common infectious cause of death diagnosed. Affected deer were usually found moribund or dead, often with faecal staining of the perineum. Gross pathology in chital included a fibrinous enterocolitis, enlarged congested mesenteric lymph nodes and multiple pale foci through the liver. Gross changes in red deer were limited to intense congestion of the intestinal mucosa and enlargement and congestion of mesenteric lymph nodes. Microscopic intestinal changes in both species consisted of microabscessation or diffuse suppurative inflammation of the intestinal mucosa with numerous bacterial colonies in the lamina propria. Multifocal suppurative mesenteric lymphadenitis was a common finding. Multifocal suppurative or non-suppurative hepatitis was frequently present in the liver of chital but was uncommon in the red deer. Yersiniosis occurred during the cooler months from June to November, with younger age classes most commonly affected. Y. pseudotuberculosis serotypes I, II and III were isolated in the ratio 17:3:0 in the chital deer and 1:1:2 in red deer. The clinical, epidemiological and bacteriological features are similar to those documented previously by New Zealand workers. The increased susceptibility to disease of red deer and chital compared to fallow deer and perhaps other species has not previously been documented.