[Mycobacteriosis of ornamental birds--frequency, pathologo-anatomic, histologic and microbiologic data]

Mycobacteriosis was diagnosed in 146 (3.8%) of 3801 necropsied pet birds between 1986 und 1991. Gross changes in 62 pet birds with histologically and culturally confirmed mycobacteriosis were predominantly enlargement of liver and spleen and thickening of intestinal walls. Three histological patterns could be observed: granulomas, sheet-like proliferations of mycobacteria-laden epithelioid cells and single scattered macrophages filled with acid-fast bacteria. Mycobacteria grew in 27 (43.6%) of 62 cultures, but the species could only be identified in 13 (21.0%) cases (5 x M. avium-Complex, 3 x M. genavense, 2 x M. fortuitum, 1 x M. gordonae, 1 x M. nonchromogenicum and 1 x M. tuberculosis). The significance of mycobacteriosis in pet birds as a zoonosis remains to be determined.