Fungal Pathogens Prevalence in Avian Species: Regional and Species-specific Variations

Fungal pathogens are opportunistic, causing infections in caged and free-living birds with hypo-immunity. Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of fungal infections in avian species living in free and caged environments. Methods: The samples (n=600) were obtained using the simple random sampling technique (to ensure unbiased selection) from free-living and cage birds of Sindh Province and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. The samples were cultured on Sabouraud dextrose agar, Czapek dox agar and Potato dextrose agar and biochemical profiles. The cultures were subjected to biochemical profiles including cyclo-hexamine resistance, casein hydrolysis, fatty acid esterase activity and cellulose hydrolase activity. Results: Results showed that 4.16% of the samples were positive for the fungal species. Four fungal species including Aspergillus fumigatus (40.00%), Candida albicans (28.00%) Cryptococcus neoformans (24.00%) and Macrorhabdus ornithogaster (8.00%) were detected in the avian species. Significant (p<0.05) difference in fungal infection observed in free-living and cage birds. Conclusions: It was concluded that the fungal pathogens were detected in free-living and caged bird samples obtained from Sindh and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. The variation in infection rates among bird types and locations impacts living and environmental conditions on fungal susceptibility. It offers significant insights into fungal infections in birds and contributes to developing infection management and environmental well-being strategies.