Investigations into an outbreak of corvid respiratory disease associated with Pasteurella multocida

Benjamin William Strugnell (1) , Mark Dagleish (2) , Colin Bayne (2) , Mike Browne (3) , Heather Ainsworth (4) , Robin a J Nicholas (5) , Alisdair Wood (6) , Chris Hodgson (2)

1 Thirsk Regional laboratory
2 Pathology department
3 BTO - British Trust for Ornithology
4 Bury St. Edmunds regional laboratory
5 Statutory and Exotic Bacteria
6 Lasswade

The possible cause of disease and mortality in corvids on an outdoor pig unit in the north of England between August 2007 to March 2008 was investigated. Nine carrion crows (Corvus corone corone) and 9 rooks (Corvus frugilegus), comprising five live-caught birds with clinical signs of respiratory disease, one live-caught bird without respiratory disease, and 12 birds submitted dead were examined. Clinical signs, gross and histopathological examination, microbiology and toxicology, indicated that Pasteurella multocida infection was the cause of disease. Molecular and serotyping analyses showed that P. multocida isolates (obtained from live-caught birds with clinical respiratory disease) were all capsular type F with a mix of somatic serotypes 3, 4 and 7. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) increased the diagnostic sensitivity of the analysis and detected P. multocida within the pulmonary lesions of all affected live-caught birds and 10 of 12 birds found dead. These findings suggest that wild corvids in the UK can suffer from lung pathology associated with P. multocida and, as potential vectors of P. multocida, may pose a risk to domestic poultry.

Mots clés: Life Sciences

Domaines: Biologie animale

Benjamin William Strugnell, Mark Dagleish, Colin Bayne, Mike Browne, Heather Ainsworth, et al.. Investigations into an outbreak of corvid respiratory disease associated with Pasteurella multocida. Avian Pathology, 2011, 40 (03), pp.329-336. ⟨10.1080/03079457.2011.571659⟩. ⟨hal-00710056⟩