Canker (trichomoniasis) in pigeons
Other names: Canker، Yellow disease، Cheese in the crop، Trichomonas
Symptoms
- Yellow nodules/plaques in the mouth, crop and palate (cheesy appearance)
- Difficulty swallowing and open beak, foul smell
- Navel form: swelling of the squab's navel
- Visceral form: liver and digestive tract
- Adults are silent carriers for a year or more
How it spreads
Crop milk from carrier parents to the squab, shared waterers, baskets.
Diagnosis
A crop swab in saline solution under the microscope = motile pear-shaped parasites (confirmed diagnosis); InPouch culture.
Treatment
Nitroimidazoles are the treatment (metronidazole, ronidazole, carnidazole, ornidazole, dimetridazole) under the veterinarian's supervision. Do not remove the plaques by force. A 2022 systematic review: metronidazole for 5 days is the regimen that gives 100% efficacy and sustained results (15-60 mg/bird/day in the studies); one day is insufficient. Administration in drinking water is the most used but the birds' control of the drinker and the taste affect it. Doses are reference values from published veterinary sources for the veterinarian - not a prescription. Diagnosis, actual dose, weight and the withdrawal period before racing are under veterinary supervision.
Prevention
A preventive course before pairing and before the racing season under a veterinarian's supervision with swab testing instead of indiscriminate treatment (documented resistance to nitroimidazoles in racing pigeons - Adriaensen 2014). Clean and dry the waterers (the parasite does not survive drying).
Treatment and doses are decided by an avian vet after an exam; Zajel does not publish doses.
Other diseases
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org
- Adriaensen et al. 2014, 'Racing pigeons: a reservoir for nitro-imidazole-resistant Trichomonas gallinae' (cited via Wikipedia T. gallinae refs)
- pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- merckvetmanual.com