Diagnosis of Enteritis and Enterotoxemia due to<i>Clostridium Difficile</i>in Captive Ostriches<i>(Struthio Camelus)</i>

Abstract

petted normal ranges. Seven of the expired birds were necropsied immediately after death. Two live ostriches with clinical signs were euthanized, and tissues were obtained for histopathology, bacterial culture, and viral isolation. At necropsy, all of the ostriches examined had similar gross lesions that differed only in severity. The colon and cecum were markedly dilated and diffusely hemorrhagic and contained no formed feces. The lungs were variably congested, and the liver was frequently pale yellow in color. Two of the birds had hemorrhagic foci in the proventriculus. No other significant gross lesions were observed in any of the birds. Microscopic examination of the tissues revealed an acute, severe, necrotizing typhlitis and colitis in all birds, with massive numbers of large gram-positive bacilli present within glands and in the intestinal lumen (Figs. 1, 2). There was moderate, diffuse hepatocellular vacuolar change in 6 birds and multifocal lymphoid necrosis in the bursa of Fabricius of 2 of the ostriches. No viral inclusions were noted. Moderate to severe congestion was present in the lungs of 7 of 9 birds. Two of the birds had a mild necrotizing proventriculitis with mild hemorrhage. Sections of the intestine were submitted for aerobic and anaerobic culture. Enrichment for Salmonella in selenite broth for 12 hours yielded negative results, and no clinically significant aerobic pathogenic bacteria were found. Two different species of Clostridium were anaerobically cultured from the intestine. They were tentatively identified as C. hastiforme and C. clostridiiforme by API 20A biochemical assay. b After isolation and subculture of the original cultures in cycloserine-cefoxitin-fructose agar and additional biochemical analysis by An-IDENT biochemical assay, b the C. hastiforme culture was shown to be C. difficile. The API-20A biochemical assay was then repeated on the pure culture, and it too indicated the presence of C. difficile. The intestine was submitted for clostridial enterotoxin assay c by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Extracts of multiple sections