Isolation of Salmonella Typhimurium from dead Blue and Gold Macaws (Ara ararauna)

VIGO G.B.; ORIGLIA J.; GORNATTI D.; PISCOPO D.; SALVE A.; CAFFER M.I.; PICHEL M.; BINSZTEIN N.; LEOTTA G.A.

AVIAN DISEASES

AMER ASSOC AVIAN PATHOLOGISTS

Año: 2009 vol. 53 p. 135 - 138

0005-2086

Two Blue and Gold Macaw (Ara ararauna) chicks died of fatal salmonellosis in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The birds were histopathologically and microbiologically examined. Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Typhimurium was isolated from the liver, spleen, heart, lung, kidney and intestine of both birds. All strains were susceptible to ampicillin, cephalothin, cefotaxime, enrofloxacin, nalidixic acid, gentamicin, streptomycin, chloramphenicol, fosfomycin, tetracycline, nitrofurantoin and trimetoprim-sulfamethoxazole. The XbaI-PFGE profile of S. Typhimurium isolated from the two animals that shared the same cage was identical and showed a unique pattern compared with 301 isolates included in the National Salmonella PFGE Database. This is the first report that describes fatal cases of salmonellosis from Blue and Gold Macaws.