Aspergillosis in a Blue and Yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna) - A Case Report

The carcass of a female Macaw (two-and-a-half-month-old) was referred for a necropsy to the Department of Veterinary Pathology, RIVER, Puducherry with a history of anorexia and respiratory distress from an organised pet bird farm. On necropsy, varying-sized grayish-white nodules (<1 cm diameter) were observed in the thoracic cavity. The entire lung parenchyma had multi-focal caseous nodules (miliary to 1 cm) along with congestion and consolidation. Other gross lesions included a moderate degree of pericarditis, hepatic congestion, and splenomegaly. Representative tissues fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin were processed by routine paraffin embedding technique and sections were stained with H&E. Histopathology revealed multiple necrotizing variable-sized granulomatous lesions in the lungs, characterized by an extensive area of caseous necrosis with the presence of fungal conidiophores and hyphae surrounded by a zone of lymphocytes, macrophages, epithelioid cells, and fibrous connective tissue. Further, on cultural examination with Saboraud’s dextrose agar, fungal colonies with morphological features of Aspergillus spp. were recorded. PCR carried out using species-specific primer showed an amplified product of 310 bp confirming A. fumigatus. Based on gross, histopathogical, cultural characteristics, and molecular findings, the case was diagnosed as Aspergillosis.