Published in Scientific Works. Series C. Veterinary Medicine, Vol. LXVII, Issue 2
Written by Iulia-Alexandra PARASCHIV (POPA), Raluca-Ioana RIZAC, Emilia CIOBOTARU-PÎRVU, Teodoru SOARE, Manuella MILITARU
The present case study was represented by a captive, adult, female Spheniscus humboldti penguin submitted for post mortem investigations at the Pathological Anatomy Department, from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest. The diagnostic methods included necropsy, microbiology, cytology, histopathology and PCR examination. Necropsy revealed poor body condition and obvious thickened air sacs along with multifocal, coalescing, yellow nodules in multiple organs. Cytology revealed necrotic and inflammatory cells, detritus, bacteria and fungal hyphae and microbiologic examination isolated Aeromonas hydrophila and Candida krusei. Histopathology revealed old and developing multifocal granulomas with a central oxyphilic material and circular disposition surrounded at the periphery by multinucleated giant cells and cellular reactivity. Other lesions identified were interstitial nephritis with glomerulosclerosis, lymphohistiocytic hepatitis. and splenic lymphocyte depletion. Also, protozoan cysts (50-80μ in diameter) were identified in all major tissues, but PCR examination was negative for Toxoplasma gondii.The case of the Humboldt penguin presented multifocal granulomatous inflammations, associated with emaciation, immunosuppression and parasitism and the cause of the death was respiratory insufficiency.
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