Diseases with Suggestive Lesions

Diseases with Lesions in the Cardiovascular System

Disease	Etiology	Species Affected	Lesions		Remarks
Ascites	Metabolic related to rapid growth rate and high yield in broilers	Young, fast- growing chickens (males > females).		Enlarged heart. Ascites. Enlarged or cirrhotic liver. Fibrin exudation in severe cases	Exacerbated by low oxygen conditions at hatch or brooding, high altitude, heavy dust, lung pathology. Controlled via lighting programs to slow growth.
Anatipestifer infection	Pasteurella anatipestifer	Ducks, turkeys, other waterfowl		Pericarditis, often adhesive.	Often with airsacculitis, fibrinous perihepatitis
Chlamydiosis	Chlamydia psittaci	Turkeys, pigeons, ducks, cage and wild birds.		Pericarditis, often adhesive.	Often with airsacculitis, fibrinous perihepatitis, splenomegaly, and hepatomegaly.
Colibacillosis	Escherichia coli septicemia	Turkeys,chickens, commercial ducks		Pericarditis, often adhesive.	Often with airsacculitis, fibrinous perihepatitis
Dissecting aneurysm (aortic rupture)	Unknown. Noninfectious. A strong nutritional influence, especially copper metabolism.	Turkeys. Occasionally, chickens.		Ruptured artery, usually abdominal aorta.Rarely, aortic arch. Extensive internal hemorrhage.	Sudden deaths in rapidly growing, highly conditioned birds. Losses can be extensive. Usually in males.
Listeriosis	Listeria monocytogenes	All poultry and many wild birds.		Focal myocarditis, pericarditis. Focal hepatic necrosis. Encephalitis.	Uncommon. May be secondary. Usually sporadic losses. Septicemia or encephalitis may be only manifestation.
Marek’s disease	Herpesvirus	Chickens		Focal or multifocal tumors in the myocardium.	May be associated with tumors in other organ systems.
Mycoplasma Gallisepticum infection	M. gallisepticum	Turkeys, chickens, other poultry birds		Pericarditis, often adhesive	Often with airsacculitis,
Pullorum disease, fowl typhoid, possibly paratyphoid	Salmonella pullorum, S. gallinarum, other salmonellae	Chickens, turkeys, and geese.		Nodules in myocardium. Adhesive pericarditis.	Oophoritis or orchitis may occur in some adult birds. Enteric or septicemic diseases with diarrhea in young birds
Round heart disease	Possibly toxic agents in turkeys (antitrypsin and furazolidone implicated	Chickens and turkeys		A greatly enlarged, round heart. Ascites. Fibrin exudation in severe cases.	Uncommon in chickens. Most outbreaks associated with built-up litter. Variable mortality. Potentiated by furazolidone treatment in turkeys.

Disease with Signs Suggestive Of CNS Disease.

Disease	Etiology	Species Affected	Lesions		Remarks
Aspergillosis	Usually Aspergillus fumigatus.	Usually young chicks and poults or captive game birds.		Various CNS signs. Respiratory signs usually precede,CNS signs and predominate. A minority develop CNS involvement.	Yellow mycotic nodules often grossly visible in brain. Lesions of aspergillosis in lungs or air sacs, perhaps in conjunctival sac or globes of eyes.
Avian encephalomyelitis (epidemic tremor	Picornavirus	Chicken, pultsand Pheasants.		Tremors of head and neck and legs. Paresis leads to paralysis and prostration	Microscopic lesions in the CNS. Survivors often develop cataracts. Invert the birds to accent the tremors for diagnosis.
Bacterial encephalitis	Salmonella S.arizonae, paratyphoid species, Escherichia coli.	Turkey poults, chicks		.Various CNS signs. Ophthalmitis and omphalitis often present in some of the poult	Exudate grossly visible in meninges and ventricles. Confirm by culture.
Botulism	Preformed toxin of Clostridium botulinum	Usually chickens		Paresis progressing to paralysis of legs, neck, wings, nict- -itating membrane .Loose feathers.	No gross or microscopic lesions of value. Perhaps putrid feed or maggots in crop.
Crazy chick disease, encephalomalacia	Vitamin E deficiency .	.  Chicks (usually less than 8 weeks old), turkeys (usually 2-4 weeks old).		Ataxia, falling and flying over backwards, loss of balance; prostration with legs outstretched, toes flexed, and head and neck back.	Hemorrhage and malacia of cerebellum often grossly visible. Confirm by microscopy.Perhaps exudative diathesis along ventrum or muscle necrosis.
Dactylariosis	Dactylariosis Dactylaria gallopava (fungus	Turkey poults, chicks.		Incoordination, tremors, torticollis, paralysis, perhaps ocular opacities	. Focal gross brain lesions, often pulmonary nodules or airsacculitis. Fungus often in saw dust litter
Fowl cholera	Pasteurella multocida	Turkeys, chickens, perhaps other species.		Abnormal positions of head and neck. Ataxia, loss of equilibrium	A localized form of chronic fowl cholera. May/may not accompany acute outbreak. Lesions may be present in cranial bones or inner ear.
Marek’s disease	Herpesvirus	Chickens usually 6-20 weeks old		Paresis progressing to paralysis of a leg or wing. Often one leg is held forward and one leg is held backward in the recumbent bird.	Microscopically there are infiltrating neoplastic cells in affected nerve trunks and the CNS.Grossly, lesions may be visible in affected nerve trunks

Diseases with Lesion in the Mouth, Pharynx, Esophagus, Crop, Proventriculus, Gizzard.

Disease

Etiology

Species Affected

Lesions

Remarks

Disease	Etiology	Species Affected	Lesions		Remarks
Candidiasis (crop mycosis)	Candida albicans	Poultry, game birds, perhaps other birds		Gray, thin, pseudo-membranous patches on the mucosa. Little inflammation	Often secondary to parasitism, malnutrition, poor sanitation, impaction, antibiotic usage, other disease. Affects any or all organs listed in title.
Capillariasis	Capillaria contorta, C. annulata	Chickens, turkeys, game birds.		.Worms sewn into inflamed, thickened mucosa	In the esophagus and crop. Common in game birds. Scrapings usually necessary for identification.
Duck plague (duck virus enteritis)	Herpesvirus	Ducks, geese, swans		Hemorrhage and necrosis of the esophageal and cloacal tissue. Liver has petechial hemorrhages	Intranuclear inclusions produced in infected tissue.
Mycotoxicosis	Trichothecenes	All poultry		.Oral ulcerations	Produced by Fusarium species of mold
Pendulous crop	If epizootic, influencedby coarse roughage; or by genetics in turkeys.	Turkeys, chickens, perhaps others..		Crop and esophagus enlarged, perhaps impacted	Secondary mycosis often present in atonic crop or esophagus. Sporadic cases sometimes fromvagal paralysis
Trichomoniasis (canker in pigeons; frounce in falcons)	Trichomonas gallinae	. Raptors, doves, pigeons, turkeys, chickens.		Raised conical masses in mucosa of mouth, pharynx, esophagus, crop.	Many trichomonads in oral fluids. Lesions sometimes in proventriculus. Also in the liver of pigeons and some raptors. Lesions often invasive
Vitamin A deficiency	Inadequate vitamin A	Chickens,turkeys		Pustule-like lesions in esophagus, perhaps mouth and pharynx. Variable rhinitis, sinusitis, conjunctivitis. Perhaps excessive urates in urinary tract orcloaca..	.Sticky eyelids and ataxia often the only gross lesions and signs in young birds. Squamous metaplasia of columnar epithelium in esophageal mucous glands and nasal epithelium.
Wet pox	Poxvirus	Most birds, including poultry		1-5 mm yellow-gray plaques in mucosa of mouth, pharynx, or esophagus. Less often in sinuses or conjunctiva	Skin lesions often on face, wattles, eyelids, comb, feet, legs, ear lobes, caruncle, snood.