Abstract
Schmidt, R. E., Reavill, D. R., and Phalen, D. N. Pathology of Pet and Aviary Birds, 1st ed. 234 pp. Iowa State Press, Ames, IA, 2003. $149.99. ISBN 0-8138-0502-3.
Diagnostic pathologists today often cannot avoid encountering exotic bird submissions. Most of us have had to rely on extrapolations from poultry pathology texts, clinical medicine texts, and other sporadic publications for information on this subject. Drs. Schmidt, Reavill, and Phalen have filled a large void by publishing Pathology of Pet and Aviary Birds. Its 13 chapters describe gross, histopathologic, and some ultrastructural findings for a variety of diseases of exotic avian species. Each chapter covers one organ system and begins with a concise overview of the normal anatomy, including some species variations. The organization of the text is very similar to that of Pathology of Domestic Animals of Jubb, Kennedy, and Palmer, with each chapter divided by anatomic region, such as upper respiratory areas, trachea, lungs, and air sacs for the chapter on the respiratory system, and further divided into sections on noninfectious, infectious, and neoplastic diseases for each region. The table of contents does not have these subheadings, but they are easily found in the index. The index is very thorough, including broader subjects such as infectious diseases as well as spe-cific diseases and pathogens.
Pathology of Pet and Aviary Birds assumes a basic knowledge of histology, histopathology, and oncologic pathology and is intended for pathologists and pathologists in training. There is little clinical information, and this book is probably of limited value to practicing veterinarians and veterinary students. The book covers some diseases of wild birds and poultry and may be useful for pathologists who work with zoo and wild birds. However, most of the text is devoted to captive psittacines and passerines. The text is straightforward and easily read. Topics are covered concisely and in enough detail to be very useful for diagnostic pathology but often with little information on the other aspects of the disease, such as pathogenesis and epidemiology. Ancillary diagnostics, such as immunohistochemistry, are rarely discussed. There are 600 black and white images, with most measuring 3.375 × 2.25 inches. Most are photomicrographs of hematoxylin and eosin sections, and some are gross photographs and electron micrographs. The images are generally of good quality, although some photomicrographs are too low in magnification to demonstrate the lesion clearly or are slightly out of focus.
Each chapter has a list of approximately 20 to 60 references, including journal articles, a few textbooks, and rare proceedings and websites, most of them published within the last decade. Information in the text is not specifically referenced, and it is sometimes difficult to determine if the information is supported by one or more references or is solely based on the experiences and opinions of the authors. However, because the volume of published information on pet and aviary bird pathology is still relatively small, one should expect a text like this to include somewhat subjective but still very useful information based on experience and opinion. Some typographical errors are present, such as the various spellings of Craig Riddell's name in the reference lists for multiple chapters. (Craig Riddell is the editor of a similar but poultry-oriented text Avian Histopathology.) Careful readers may also notice some inaccuracies, such as using paramyxovirus-1 synonymously with exotic Newcastle disease. However, the text overall is very useful and an essential tool for any pathologist working with exotic avian species.