Necrotizing enteritis as a cause of mortality in Laysan albatross, Diomedea immutabilis, chicks on Midway Atoll, Hawaii.
A necropsy survey of Laysan albatross, Diomedea immutabilis, chicks on Midway Atoll in June 1993, 1994, and 1995 revealed 54% (21/39), 67% (49/71), and 93% (15/16), respectively, to have enteritis as the most severe pathologic finding. The lesion was limited to the ileum, ceca, and large intestine. We were unable to attribute a single infectious etiology to this lesion. Many birds with enteritis also exhibited renal lesions similar to those encountered in chickens experimentally deprived of water. We propose that enteritis is a significant cause of mortality in Laysan albatross chicks on Midway and that it may be a sequela to dehydration. It is likely that the pathology of dehydration in Laysan albatross differs from that in chickens largely because of diet.
Work
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Biological Resources Division, National Wildlife Health Center, Honolulu, HI 96750, USA.
Smith
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Duncan
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D000818:Animals; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000401:mortality*; D001717:Birds; D002432:Cecum / Q000473:pathology; D004751:Enteritis / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D007082:Ileum / Q000473:pathology; D007420:Intestine, Large / Q000473:pathology; D009336:Necrosis; D013045:Species Specificity