Aspergillosis in 41 wild bird species in the eastern United States: a 22-year retrospective review

Aspergillosis is the most commonly and widely reported fungal infection in birds. Disease development is often secondary to stressors that cause immunocompromise, and it is typically regarded as a disease of captivity. We retrospectively evaluated data from 133 birds diagnosed with aspergillosis at the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study from 2001-2023 to assess diversity and relative frequency across avian taxa, gross and histologic lesion patterns, and comorbidities. Of 10 taxonomic orders represented, <i>Charadriiformes</i> (shorebirds; <i>n</i> = 35) and <i>Accipitriformes</i> (raptors; <i>n</i> = 32) were most common. Among them, the laughing gull (<i>Leucophaeus atricilla</i>; <i>n</i> = 20) and bald eagle (<i>Haliaeetus leucocephalus</i>; <i>n</i> = 14) were infected most commonly. Gross lesions were most frequent in lung (<i>n</i> = 80), air sac (<i>n</i> = 71), or celomic cavity lining (<i>n</i> = 42). Four distinct gross lesion patterns were identified: 1) tan caseous plaques (<i>n</i> = 106), 2) hollow masses lined with mold (<i>n</i> = 26), 3) red pulmonary nodules (<i>n</i> = 15), and 4) necrotic brown plaques (<i>n</i> = 3). Histologically, fungal hyphae were most common in lung (<i>n</i> = 107) and air sac (<i>n</i> = 49). Comorbidities were diagnosed in 67 birds with a spectrum of viral (<i>n</i> = 19), bacterial (<i>n</i> = 11), parasitic (<i>n</i> = 6), other fungal (<i>n</i> = 4), and non-infectious (<i>n</i> = 50) causes. Six birds each were diagnosed with highly pathogenic avian influenza or salmonellosis. Twenty-two birds were emaciated. Free-ranging birds are susceptible to myriad stressors that can predispose them to the development of aspergillosis.