Causes of mortality in backyard poultry in eight states in the United States.

A comprehensive understanding of common diseases of backyard poultry flocks is important to providing poultry health information to flock owners, veterinarians, and animal health officials. We collected autopsy reports over a 3-y period (2015-2017) from diagnostic laboratories in 8 states in the United States; 2,509 reports were collected, involving autopsies of 2,687 birds. The primary cause of mortality was categorized as infectious, noninfectious, neoplasia or lymphoproliferative disease, or undetermined. Neoplasia or lymphoproliferative disease was the most common primary diagnosis and involved 42% of the total birds autopsied; 63% of these cases were diagnosed as Marek's disease or leukosis/sarcoma. Bacterial, parasitic, and viral organisms were commonly detected, involving 42%, 28%, and 7% of the birds autopsied, respectively, with 2 or more organisms detected in 69% of birds. Our findings demonstrate the importance of educating flock owners about disease prevention and biosecurity practices. The detection of zoonotic bacteria including paratyphoid salmonellae, Campylobacter spp., Listeria monocytogenes, and Mycobacterium avium, and the detection of lead and other heavy metals, indicate public health risks to flock owners and consumers of backyard flock egg and meat products.

Detection and isolation of Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 from a small backyard swine herd in Colorado.

Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 A(H1N1)pdm09 was first confirmed in pigs in the United States in October 2009. In November 2010, lungs and intestines from 2 York piglets from a small, privately owned herd were submitted to the Colorado State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. The submitting veterinarian reported rapid weight loss and signs of pneumonia in the piglets. Gross lesions included caudoventral pneumonia in both piglets, and histologic lesions in the lungs showed characteristics consistent with influenza virus and bacterial infection. Ribonucleic acid extracted from fresh lung homogenates from both piglets was positive for influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 by a real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Virus was isolated from lung homogenates from both piglets in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells, as well as in 10-day-old specific pathogen-free embryonated chicken eggs. Sequence analysis showed 98% homology with 2009 H1N1 human isolates from across the United States and 98% homology against two 2009 and 2010 swine isolates from Nebraska and Minnesota. The current report documents the possible transmission of pandemic influenza A(H1N1)2009 virus [A(H1N1)pdm09] from a human being to a small, privately owned backyard swine herd. The owner was employed as a pharmacist, making occupational exposure to the pandemic influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 a possibility.