Outbreak of Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium Infection in One Flock of Domestic Pigeons

Significance of Findings Contrary to experimental work, which has shown the high resistance of domestic pigeons to M. a. avium, researchers found that domestic pigeons in a natural environment can be infected with this agent, although they do not exhibit clinical symptoms or patho-anatomic lesions suggesting mycobacteriosis. They can therefore serve as the source of infection for nestlings. Although susceptible to M. a. avium infection, rabbits did not appear to be infected in our study, with the exception of one juvenile, in which M. a. avium was detected only by triplex qPCR in the liver. Triplex qPCR was successfully used for the detection and quantification of M. a. avium in infected liver tissues of pigeons.