Chlamydia or psittacosis?

[Susan Skylark]

This is a horrible picture! Woke up this morning to find our first chick and most beloved bird (of course!) sitting off by itself in the corner, feathers ruffled and rather listless. No respiratory, digestive or neurological signs noted. Cage mates and a bunch of ten day old chicks are all fine. Still in the basement so no exposure to wild birds. The only symptom is bilateral conjunctivitis and watery eyes. I started it on tetracycline in case it is chlamydia, have it in isolation, and right now just keeping an eye on things. If it was just one eye it could be injury but both makes it unlikely. Toxin or nutritional cause also unlikely as everybody else is fine. Highly pathogenic virus is unlikely as nobody else is sick and exposure is minimal. Most often chlamydia presents as subclinical and it can survive a while in the environment, it also presents as a chronic conjunctivitis in cats. Any other ideas or am I missing something here? Thanks!

 

[007Sean]

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This is a horrible picture! Woke up this morning to find our first chick and most beloved bird (of course!) sitting off by itself in the corner, feathers ruffled and rather listless. No respiratory, digestive or neurological signs noted. Cage mates and a bunch of ten day old chicks are all fine. Still in the basement so no exposure to wild birds. The only symptom is bilateral conjunctivitis and watery eyes. I started it on tetracycline in case it is chlamydia, have it in isolation, and right now just keeping an eye on things. If it was just one eye it could be injury but both makes it unlikely. Toxin or nutritional cause also unlikely as everybody else is fine. Highly pathogenic virus is unlikely as nobody else is sick and exposure is minimal. Most often chlamydia presents as subclinical and it can survive a while in the environment, it also presents as a chronic conjunctivitis in cats. Any other ideas or am I missing something here? Thanks!

Can't really tell anything by those photos! What makes you think chlamydia?

 

[Susan Skylark]

Bilateral conjunctivitis, both eyes are red/inflamed, teary, didn’t want to open them. Was depressed and off by herself. 24 hours on tetracycline conjunctivitis is improving, opens both eyes, interested in food and company this morning (which is a problem as she has only 4 now very amorphous males in her age group!). It is usually around in various species but infrequently causes disease, nobody else is sick, no other symptoms presenting, responding to treatment. Not guaranteed diagnosis but fits the profile.

 

[007Sean]

Bilateral conjunctivitis, both eyes are red/inflamed, teary, didn’t want to open them. Was depressed and off by herself. 24 hours on tetracycline conjunctivitis is improving, opens both eyes, interested in food and company this morning (which is a problem as she has only 4 now very amorphous males in her age group!). It is usually around in various species but infrequently causes disease, nobody else is sick, no other symptoms presenting, responding to treatment. Not guaranteed diagnosis but fits the profile.

Without an analysis by serology, necropy or by PCR, your just 'shooting in the dark' with your diagnosis. Chlamydia 'mimics' many other diseases, such as Mycoplasma.

More common in psittacines than galliforms but chickens, turkeys and ducks can be susceptible to the disease. I hope you also realize that you can be infected by this disease from pet psittacines!

A more likely diagnosis would be Mycoplasma. There are several strains of mycoplasma....Mycoplasma Gallisepticum, M. Iowae, M. meleagridis and M. synovia. Chickens and turkeys are most susceptible but other poultry can contract the disease. It is a very contagious disease.
Clinical signs are swollen face, watery eyes, ruffled feathers, difficulty in breathing, coughing, sneezing, and nasal discharge may be present.

Mycoplasma may also be transmitted vertically via the egg. I have had this happen when buying eggs from sellers on eBay.
It's an 'all in' or 'all out' disease, in other words, you cull all your birds or you keep them on property for life, don't sell, trade, give away, rehome, etc as they are carriers for life.

 

[Susan Skylark]

I am well aware of zoonotic potential and that I have not had this submitted to a laboratory for confirmation, another factor to consider is that mycoplasma is very resistant to many antibiotics or is so small traditional antibiotics don’t work against it. It is notoriously difficult to treat and vaccinate for in cattle and I would assume the same in poultry (tetracycline isn’t going to cut it). While I would love to run an all in/all out program with great bio security (I draw the line at shower in/shower out!) this is a 4-H project for my kids and we are only going to run about a dozen birds, not a dairy milking a thousand head or a farrowing operation with three hundred sows. And just as a side note, most of the time in field practice the vet doesn’t get a final diagnosis, if you’re lucky you get to post a cow, come up with some potential rule outs, treat what you can, and gauge your final diagnosis on response to treating, most producers don’t have time or money to throw away on sending in samples (which can take weeks to get results and are inconclusive half the time), you literally have hours to come up with a diagnosis and treatment plan because critters are dropping dead while you stand there. Yes it could be mycoplasma or 15 different viruses or injury or whatever but I can treat for chlamydia and the treatment isn’t expensive or harmful and this bird is suffering and acutely sick, it fits the pattern so let’s try it. I could send off an eye swab, wait two weeks, and spend a hundred bucks but that won’t help this bird. This morning she’s eating, walking around, and still had a mild conjunctivitis but she’s responding very well to treatment. Is she a bio security risk? Chlamydia can survive in the environment and many birds/critters carry it subclinically with it only occasionally causing symptoms. The rest have already been exposed, as has my family, so we’ll practice good hygiene and keep an eye out for suspicious symptoms. Is it mycoplasma or an unknown bacterial conjunctivitis, possibly, but does it really matter? I’d love to have a definitive diagnosis but that doesn’t happen in around 96 percent of cases, my job is to fix the problem in individuals but more importantly in the entire herd and implement management strategies that work for the producer. There is a bunch of ideal stuff that works on paper but can’t realistically be carried out, we learned that with the pandemic! I need a workable solution that minimizes disease while still allowing people to live and work and enjoy life. I appreciate your concern but I am well equipped and trained to handle an epidemiological emergency, I’m not some hack with google and an old Merck Manual (though it is a handy reference!) trying to save the day with fish antibiotics! I understand pathology, pharmacology, immunology, virology and production medicine, I think I can handle a quail with goopy eyes

 

[007Sean]

Best of luck!

 

[Huntmaster]

Any other ideas or am I missing something here? Thanks!

I think I can handle a quail with goopy eyes

Not sure why you asked if you don't need anyone's advice. GOOD LUCK.