Avian Tuberculosis Mycobacterium avium , the causative organism of avian TB, occurs among feral pigeons and has been reported in commercially acquired White Carneaux pigeons of a research colony. The risk of infection from this ubiquitous organism increases with age and duration of exposure. Wood pigeons and starlings are reservoirs of infection for the spread of this microorganism to other animals. Diagnosis should be confirmed by culture and the making of a mycoplasma antigen for serological testing. This is a serious, viral, zoonotic disease in humans, for which psittacine birds and pigeons are favoured natural hosts.
Pigeons are well known as clinically normal carriers.
If an outbreak of the disease is suspected in laboratory pigeons, the diagnosis must be confirmed and, in most jurisdictions must be reported to the provincial public health authorities. Treatment should not be attempted. The birds should be killed, appropriately disposed of, and the facility cleaned and disinfected with formalin or some other effective virucidal agent. Parasitic Infestations Parasites may be responsible for a number of serious health problems among pigeons, either directly or indirectly as vectors in the transmission of pathogens. Treatment lies in control of the vector by pyrethroids or other insecticides.