Occurrences of candidiasis in a Fisher's lovebird and a budgerigar

Two cage birds, a two-month-old Fisher's lovebird (Agapornis fischeri) and a one-year-old budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus), manifested clinical symptoms with general weakness, loss of appetite and ruffled feathers, then died. Pathological findings revealed a large quantity of yellowish-white pseudomembrane on the mucosal membrane of the esophagus and crop in these two birds. Histopathologically, blastospores (5.5 microm long x 3.4 microm wide) and pseudohyphae were detected in the lesions of conspicuous parakeratosis and moderate acanthosis in the stratified squamous epithelium. These two birds were diagnosed as having had candidiasis.