Hi! I'm a vet student; I've just necropsied a pigeon and found a green liver with two white plaques. What could be happening? Is it a sign of toxicity or infection, or is it just normal colour variation? The pigeon was previously diagnosed to have Candidiasis because of white-yellowish masses in the mouth. When I did the swab examination, I found hyphae but couldn't determine yet whether it's Candida. Respiratory system got no lesion, unless some compaque-white appearance of the trachea. Digestive system got severe lesion in the crop, where there's some brown crusts. Is it a sole Candida infection or perhaps I should consider differential diagnose like Pox virus or Salmonella? I can't find any colour picture reference that match the lesion of my pigeon.. Could you please recommend me any book or online atlas? Thanks a million!
question by: Ayuki
answer by: Ruben Lanckriet
Dear Madam/Sir,
Candida should be easy to see with a normal haemacolor coloration of a swab and even without coloration it can be recognised because of the typical oval form with sometimes a kind of bud. Only when there is a massive infection, it explains clinical symptoms and lesions. The masses and lesions in throath and crop are indicative for trichomoniasis, pox virus, herpes, perhaps candida. The liver could indeed indicate a problem with herpes, salmonella, pseudotuberculosis, another (bacterial) infection.
In your case, if it is a young bird, I suspect a problem with herpes virus, perhaps in combination with trichomoniasis and/or candida.
Kind regards