On February 1, 2002 a client arrived at our clinic with a recently deceased female White-capped Pionus. The client was surprised since the hen had appeared in perfect health the evening prior. Visually, the hen appeared to be in good condition with no obvious signs of disease. Therefore, after a brief inspection the bird was prepared for a necropsy and subsequent histopathological examination to determine the exact cause of death.

The necropsy revealed large white nodules attached to the birds lungs, characteristic of tuberculosis infection. Following this inspection, a small tissue sample was isolated from the bird and set aside for PCR (DNA) testing, while the rest of the body was prepared, and sent to the University of Guelph for histopathological examination.

The examination results arrived a few days later and revealed the presence of "Nodular Granuloma compatible with Mycobacterium avium", which was in accordance with earlier observations of white nodules in the lungs. However, in order to confirm these results, a small tissue sample was sent for DNA testing to HealthGene laboratory. Surprisingly, HealthGene’s PCR-based test revealed that the tissue was negative for the presence of Mycobacterium avium. Clearly, these results were not in agreement with the examination results obtained from the University of Guelph. After notifying the University of this discrepancy, they proceed to forward the samples to Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory located in Winnipeg. Interestingly, the Winnipeg laboratory also failed to detect the presence of M. avium, thus supporting HealthGene’s results. HealthGene laboratory continued DNA testing and determined that the cause of the white nodules could be attributed to Mycobacterium genavense infection. The Winnipeg laboratory proceeded to conduct a microbiological test for M. genavense and confirmed these findings.

After receiving these results, the male White-capped Pionus originally housed with the infected hen was tested by HealthGene for M. avium and M. genavense. As suspected, the male tested positive for M. genavense and was subsequently treated over a nine-month period. A follow-up DNA test was recently conducted and indicated that the bird was free of M. genavense infection. As a precautionary measure, the owner of these birds proceeded to check the rest of the aviary by DNA testing for M. avium and M. genavense infection. Luckily, all the results were negative, indicating the infection had not spread.