ABSTRACT
Veterinary hospitals house patient populations with diverse infectious statuses, microbiota, and histories of prior antibiotic therapy. Choanal swabs are commonly used for assessing the upper respiratory tract of birds for bacterial disease, with the samples submitted for cytologic testing and/or culture and antimicrobial sensitivity testing. The aim of this retrospective study was to identify and quantify bacteria isolated from choanal swabs collected from psittacine patients at a veterinary teaching hospital in Mexico City, Mexico. Data regarding bacterial isolates from choanal swabs were obtained from the medical records of companion psittacines suspected of upper respiratory bacterial disease that presented between November 2015 and December 2022. A total of 47.8% (175 of 366) of the bacterial isolates were from specimens obtained from red-lored Amazons (Amazona autumnalis). Gram-negative bacteria predominated, with 27 different genera identified. Klebsiella, Staphylococcus, and Escherichia were the most frequently isolated genera. A total of 90.4% (331 of 366) of the isolates were resistant to at least 1 antibiotic tested in the sensitivity panel, and a single Klebsiella isolate was resistant to 13 different antibiotics. Gentamicin had a high percentage of efficacy (79.5%; 182 of 229) against the bacterial isolates, whereas isolates tested against sulfonamide-trimethoprim (46.7%, 98 of 210), streptomycin (43.8%; 88 of 201), and clindamycin (12.9%; 15 of 116) had susceptibilities <50%. This is the first study to report common bacterial isolates and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns from choanal swab samples collected from companion psittacines suspected of upper respiratory disease in Mexico. Clinicians can use the information presented in this study as a guide for therapeutic decision-making when managing upper respiratory bacterial infections in companion psittacine patients.
Subject(s)
Anti-Bacterial Agents , Bird Diseases , Hospitals, Animal , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Psittaciformes , Retrospective Studies , Animals , Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology , Bird Diseases/microbiology , Bird Diseases/drug therapy , Microbial Sensitivity Tests/veterinary , Drug Resistance, Bacterial , Mexico , Bacteria/drug effects , Bacteria/isolation & purification , Bacteria/classificationABSTRACT
The objective of this study was to establish hematological and plasma biochemical reference values in captive white-fronted Amazon parrots (Amazona albifrons), as well as to determine whether sex effects the reference values. To our knowledge, hematological and plasma biochemical data have not been reported in this species. Thirty-seven clinically healthy adult individuals (21 males, 16 females) from El Nido Bird Sanctuary, Ixtapaluca, Estado de México, were the subject birds for this study. Complete blood count and selected plasma biochemical parameters, including uric acid, glutamate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase, total protein, and albumin, were evaluated. Blood samples were collected in the winter (January), outside of the birds' breeding season. Many hematological and plasma biochemical analytes had large coefficients of variation, and there were no statistically significant sex differences identified.
