Salmonellosis in a captive heron colony

Salmonellosis caused by Salmonella typhimurium was one of several factors responsible for losses among young herons being held at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. The infection was demonstrated in five black-crowned night herons (Nycticorax nycticorax), three common egrets (Casmerodius albus), two little blue herons (Florida caerulea), one cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis), one snowy egret (Leucophoyx thula) and one Louisiana heron (Hydranassa tricolor). The disease was characterized by emaciation, focal liver necrosis, and frequently by a caseo-necrotic enteritis.