St. Ferrell et al., Bacterial cholecystitis with cardiac and pulmonary dissemination in a blue-naped mousebird (Urocolius macrourus), AVIAN DIS, 44(2), 2000, pp. 460-464
A blue-naped mousebird (Urocolius macrourus) was diagnosed by gross necrops
y and histopathology as having a chronic, fibrosing bacterial cholecystitis
. Acute, severe, necrotizing pneumonia and myocarditis also were present wi
th intralesional gram-negative bacteria. The bacteria within the lungs and
heart were suspected to have spread from the biliary tract because of the p
attern of distribution and similar gram-staining characteristics. Enterobac
ter sp. and Escherichia roll were cultured from the pulmonary lesions. Cloa
cal cultures in clinically normal blue-naped mousebirds and speckled mouseb
irds (Colius striatus) yielded both Enterobacter sp. and E. coli. We hypoth
esize a pathogenesis in this bird consisting of biliary stasis of unknown e
tiology and eventual infection of the biliary tract by the normal gram-nega
tive gastrointestinal flora. Death was believed to be a result of cardiac a
nd respiratory dysfunction secondary to the bacterial dissemination from th
e biliary tree and endotoxemia.