In the present paper, an outbreak of trichomonosis in a flock of 15 breeding pairs of canaries is described. Trichomonosis was diagnosed on characteristic clinical signs, microscopic examination of crop/esophageal swabs, gross pathology and histopathology. Trichomonads were successfully grown in culture media and were characterized by multi-locus sequence typing. The three genomic loci ITS1-5.8S-ITS2, 18S rRNA and Fe-hydrogenase were analyzed. Molecular characterization confirmed the finch trichomonosis strain, identical to the strain that caused emerging disease in free-living passerine birds in Europe. Flock treatment with metronidazole (200mg/L) in drinking water for 5days was partially effective. After individual treatment with oral application of metronidazole (20mg/kg SID) for 5days no further clinical signs were observed in the flock over next 30 months.
Keywords: Canaries; Finch strain; Molecular typing; Outbreak; Trichomonas gallinae.
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