Salmonella pullorum in the common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)

In 1996, pullorum disease due to Salmonella enterica serovar Gallinarum bio var pullorum (Salmonella pullorum) was diagnosed in pheasants on a gamebird rearing enterprise in south-west Scotland. The gross pathology and bacteri ological findings are described, as are the results of screening far S pull orum on the site in 1997. The causal organism was readily isolated from the lung, liver, yolk sac and: heart blood on direct culture, but less readily from the digestive tract or by the use of selective media. The bacteria re covered from the pheasants were identified as S pullorum phage type 7, a ph age type previously associated with pheasants rather than domestic fowl, an d the organisms were most probably introduced to the site by the movement o f carrier pheasants.