Comparative frequency of osseous macroscopic pathology and first report of gout in captive and wild-caught ratites.

Comparative frequency of osseous macroscopic pathology and first report of gout in captive and wild-caught ratites.

Rothschild B M; Ruhli F R

Journal of veterinary medicine. A, Physiology, pathology, clinical medicine

2007

2007-06

This systematic survey of museum ratite (Pterocnemia, Rhea, Casuarius, Struthio, Dromias and Apteryx) skeletal collections was performed to reevaluate previous perspectives and assess effect of captivity on macroscopically detectable pathology. Trauma-related pathology (e.g. focal periosteal reaction, malformed vertebrae) was significantly more common in captive birds (chi2 = 13.414, P \textless 0.0001) with variable timing of the different injuries. Pathology unrelated to trauma was equally represented in captive and wild-caught ratites. The latter included osteophytes of osteoarthritis, osteochondritis dissecans, infectious arthritis, gout (reported for the first time in a ratite) and neoplasia.

Animals; Bird Diseases/epidemiology/*pathology; Bone Diseases/epidemiology/pathology/*veterinary; Dromaiidae; Gout/epidemiology/pathology/*veterinary; Paleontology; Prevalence; Rheiformes; Struthioniformes; Wild; Wounds and Injuries/epidemiology/pathology/*veterinary

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265–269

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