Outbreak of Aspergillus fumigatus in an Organized Emu Farm in Indore, India

Detailed postmortem examination was conducted on eleven emu chicks presented to the Department of Veterinary Pathology, College of Veterinary and Animal Science, Mhow, MP, India from local emu farm in Indore. Birds had died with history of respiratory signs and mild nervous signs. On gross examination, numerous small grayish white nodules were seen in many organs particularly in the lungs. Histopathologically nodules on the lungs were characterized by granulomatous necrotic areas infiltrated with monocytes, lymphocytes and plasma cells. Numerous thin, tubular septate branching fungal hyphae with parallel-sided walls were seen in the parenchymatous tissue along with mononuclear cell infiltration. Liver of the affected birds revealed severe subcapsular and sinusoidal congestion. Diffuse areas of necrosis and severe congestion were noticed in the spleen. The disease was diagnosed as aspergillosis by correlating clinical signs with postmortem findings (Gross lesions and histopathology) and microscopic detection of fungus in the lung tissue followed by isolation and identification of the fungus. As the disease may take a very fatal course and no effective treatment has been established yet, so effective preventive measures should be taken to reduce the ensuing economic losses