[NatureNS] Mycoplasmal conjunctivitis? follow up

Date: Sun, 09 May 2010 08:55:07 -0300
From: Eleanor Lindsay <kelindsay@eastlink.ca>
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.9.1.9)
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Precedence: bulk
Return-Path: <naturens-mml-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>
Original-Recipient: rfc822;"| (cd /csuite/info/Environment/FNSN/MList; /csuite/lib/arch2html)"

next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects


This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

--Boundary_(ID_xDTJWPa+mSvsI6H4mgX/gA)
Content-type: text/plain; CHARSET=US-ASCII; format=flowed
Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable

In case it is of interest to anyone, here are responses to my recent=20
query about a purple finch at my feeder which appeared to have some=20
crustiness around the eye and beak. I have not seen it since or noted=20
others like it and am now discontinuing my feeders for the summer.

(_ From Nelson Poirier,a New Brunswick veterinarian with a special intere=
st___in following up reports like these___  involving Maritime birds:_

Thanks Eleanor.

This has an appearance consistent with the parasite causing anaplasmosis =
which was detected in the
Maritimes for the first time last summer and tends to be a spring-summer-=
fall periodic problem with
finches. I would like to check with Scott McBurney at the Canadian Wildli=
fe Health Unit in
Charlottetown for his thoughts.

This obviously is not a big problem with your yard troop at the moment or=
 you would have seen more infected birds.

I am attaching a copy of a column I plan to publish as soon as we start s=
eeing a significant number of sick birds for your interest.

I'm glad you were able to capture this photo. The diagnosis is of course =
not firm without a necropsy but is very helpful in gathering any suspicio=
us data.

Thanks for sharing this.

CHEERS FROM HERE...........NELSON POIRIER

_And here is Scott McBurney's response:_

Hi Nelson,
The photo of this male purple finch does not suggest conjunctivitis.  It =
does have what appears to be exudate around the commissure of the beak an=
d the beak does look deformed.  What I see could be compatible with salmo=
nellosis (much more common at this time of year) or trichomonosis.  Infec=
tions with either of these two organisms can lead to osteomyelitis which =
could also result in a beak deformity.  However, this may also simply rep=
resent an individual that had trauma to its bill, and, as a result, is pr=
one to food material and debris collecting corner of its mouth.  Beak def=
ormities have also been widely reported in Alaska, primarily in chickadee=
s but also in other species and the following website discusses this cond=
ition and its causes very well:(http://alaska.usgs.gov/science/biology/la=
ndbirds/beak_deformity/index.html).  I would very much appreciate Eleanor=
 keeping an eye out for any mortality at her feeder, and, if this particu=
lar bird dies, I would dearly love to get it for post mortem.



--Boundary_(ID_xDTJWPa+mSvsI6H4mgX/gA)
Content-type: text/html; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
  <meta http-equiv="content-type"
 content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-15">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
<font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">In case it is of interest to
anyone, here are responses
to my recent query about a purple finch at my feeder which appeared to
have some crustiness around the eye and beak. I have not seen it since
or noted others like it and am now discontinuing my feeders for the
summer.<br>
</font>
<pre wrap="">(<u>From Nelson Poirier,a New Brunswick veterinarian with a special interest </u><u><u>in following up reports like these</u></u><u> involving Maritime birds:</u>

Thanks Eleanor.
</pre>
<pre>This has an appearance consistent with the parasite causing anaplasmosis which was detected in the 
Maritimes for the first time last summer and tends to be a spring-summer-fall periodic problem with 
finches. I would like to check with Scott McBurney at the Canadian Wildlife Health Unit in 
Charlottetown for his thoughts.</pre>
<pre wrap="">This obviously is not a big problem with your yard troop at the moment or you would have seen more infected birds.

I am attaching a copy of a column I plan to publish as soon as we start seeing a significant number of sick birds for your interest.

I'm glad you were able to capture this photo. The diagnosis is of course not firm without a necropsy but is very helpful in gathering any suspicious data.

Thanks for sharing this.

CHEERS FROM HERE...........NELSON POIRIER 
</pre>
<u>And here is Scott McBurney's response:</u><br>
<br>
<pre wrap="">Hi Nelson,
The photo of this male purple finch does not suggest conjunctivitis.  It does have what appears to be exudate around the commissure of the beak and the beak does look deformed.  What I see could be compatible with salmonellosis (much more common at this time of year) or trichomonosis.  Infections with either of these two organisms can lead to osteomyelitis which could also result in a beak deformity.  However, this may also simply represent an individual that had trauma to its bill, and, as a result, is prone to food material and debris collecting corner of its mouth.  Beak deformities have also been widely reported in Alaska, primarily in chickadees but also in other species and the following website discusses this condition and its causes very well:(<a
 class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
 href="http://alaska.usgs.gov/science/biology/landbirds/beak_deformity/index.html">http://alaska.usgs.gov/science/biology/landbirds/beak_deformity/index.html</a>).  I would very much appreciate Eleanor keeping an eye out for any mortality at her feeder, and, if this particular bird dies, I would dearly love to get it for post mortem.
</pre>
<br>
</body>
</html>

--Boundary_(ID_xDTJWPa+mSvsI6H4mgX/gA)--

next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects