Psittacine tuberculosis

Abstract

Two cases of tuberculosis in psittacine birds were reported and the literature reviewed. One case was in a parakeet and this species was reported to be resistant to mycobacterial infection. No other case of parakeet tuberculosis was found in the literature. The other case was in a parrot. Historically, tuberculosis in parrots was common in European aviary collections, but case reports in the United States were few. The disease in parrots is of zoonotic interest, as they are unique among birds in being susceptible to mammalian strains of mycobacteria. The tuberculomatous aspect of the intestinal lesion in the parrot case described was unusual.