Morpho-pathogenetic characterization of staphylococci species and strains involved in psittacine diseases

Abstract

The order Psittaciformes taxonomically includes the families Loriidae (Lori parrots or parakeets), Cacaduidae (crested parrots and nymph parakeets) and Psittacidae (parrots and true parakeets). The ever-increasing desire to obtain specimens with plumage and especially with spectacular chromatics led in many situations to the reproduction through repeated inbreeding and in extremely close degrees of kinship (even the repetition over several generations of mother-son or father-daughter pairings), determining, secondarily, important changes in the metabolism and immune system of the obtained products, characters that were transmitted to the following generations. The maintenance conditions are not always correlated with the needs of the respective species. In many cases, the knowledge about the eco-biology of psittacines raised in captivity is quite poor, leading to an increase in their sensitivity. In recent years, in the clinic of these bird species, we have been dealing with extremely diverse pathologies or metabolic changes that have never been described or even observed in parrots in the wild. Among the difficult pathological problems in terms of diagnosis and therapeutic conduct, there are infectious diseases with bacterial etiology, often confused with a series of diseases with extremely different etiologies. Some of the most common bacterial diseases in recent times are staphylococci, with various evolutions: digestive, respiratory or integumentary. The correct diagnosis, using the current laboratory methods and the morphopathogenetic knowledge of the species and strains involved, allows a rapid therapeutic intervention, with positive results.