A Preliminary Study of Thin Bird Disease
We have initiated a study of a disease that is usually fatal to domestic parakeets and canaries. We have called this syndrome “thin bird disease” for lack of a better name.Clinically, the disease is diagnosed after observing a bird that is thin, exhibits severe weight loss, lethargy, and ruffled feathers. Fecal smears of affected birds contain many very large, single-celled, rod-shaped bacteria measuring up to 1μm x 90μm.Post mortem examination of birds exhibiting external symptoms of the disease reveals an enlarged ventriculus (gizzard) that contains unmacerated seeds. A jelly-like mass is found in the ventriculus and pro-ventriculus of affected birds. This material contains bacteria morphologically identical to those found in fecal smears (Figs. 3, 4).Samples of ventriculus and pro-ventriculus from birds clinically diagnosed as diseased and normal were collected and processed for light microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The specimens were fixed in half strength Karnovsky's fixative, post fixed in OsO4, and either embedded in plastic or critical point dried.