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Serratospiculum species were diagnosed in 1360 of 7200 falcons examined over a period from September 2003 to September 2008. The incidence of serratospiculosis was higher in saker falcons (Falco cherrug) and peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus). Serratospiculosis was diagnosed singly in 467 falcons, and in combination with other internal parasites in 893 falcons. Of the falcons diagnosed with only serratospiculosis, 286 showed no clinical signs and 181 showed mild to moderate clinical signs, including dyspnoea. In 126 of the symptomatic falcons, other signs were reported that were difficult to detect on clinical examination. These included inappetence, unsatisfactory weight gain and rapid exhaustion. Fenbendazole at 30 mg/kg bodyweight orally for five to eight days was effective in eliminating eggs and larvae in faeces. No side effects were noticed during or after fenbendazole treatment.

Between 2002 and 2006, a large number of juvenile northern goshawks (Accipiter gentilis) with central nervous signs were examined. They were aged between 45 and 55 days and had been fed on frozen and thawed day-old chicks. High-performance liquid chromatography showed that the birds had whole blood thiamine levels between 2.2 and 6.0 microg/l; the concentrations of other blood constituents were within their reference ranges. Treatment with thiamine hydrochloride rapidly resolved the clinical signs. Measurements of the concentration of thiamine in 22 free-ranging and captive goshawks showed that they ranged from 45.1 to 200 microg/l.

Doses of 12.5 mg voriconazole/kg bodyweight administered every 12 hours by crop gavage to six falcons for 14 days provided peak plasma concentrations of more than 1 microg/ml, but the trough concentrations were lower and sometimes undetectable. Administering the same doses incorporated into meat that was fed to one falcon for seven days and to three falcons for up to 91 days provided similar plasma concentrations.

The minimum inhibitory concentrations (mics) of fungi isolated from the air sacs of falcons before (group 1), and during antifungal treatment with amphotericin B nebulisation and oral itraconazole or voriconazole (group 2), or with itraconazole alone (group 3) or voriconazole alone (group 4) were determined. Before treatment, 95 per cent of the isolates, including Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus terreus, were susceptible to voriconazole at mics up to 0.38 microg/ml, and all the isolates were susceptible at mics up to 1 microg/ml. Before treatment, 21 per cent of the isolates, including A fumigatus (27.6 per cent), A flavus (16.6 per cent), A niger (100 per cent) and A terreus (23 per cent), were resistant (mic > or =1 microg/ml) to itraconazole; 51 per cent of the isolates, including A fumigatus (31 per cent), A flavus (78 per cent), A niger (14 per cent) and A terreus (77 per cent), had mics of over 1 microg/ml to amphotericin B, and after treatment their mics increased significantly. In contrast, there were no significant differences between the mics of voriconazole and itraconazole for the different Aspergillus species before and during treatment with these antifungal agents.

Of 5360 falcons examined at the Sulman Falcon Hospital in Bahrain between 1987 and 1993, 1675 (31.2 per cent) had lesions of trichomoniasis. These lesions were commonly found in the oral and nasal cavities, the infraorbital sinuses, the crop and oesophagus and, more rarely, in the coelomic cavity, attached to the wall of the abdominal air sacs, and in the trachea, partially obstructing its lumen. Several therapeutic methods and the results obtained are described.

An unilateral ptosis in an African spotted eagle own was ameliorated by topical treatment with phenylephrine, strongly suggesting a diagnosis of Horner's syndrome, the first recorded case of this syndrome in a bird.

Diclazuril, a new anticoccidial drug, was tested in young pheasants artificially infected with the three most common pathogenic species of Eimeria, E colchici, E duodenalis and E phasiani. In two replicate experiments each with 40 birds the mortalities in the infected controls were 50 and 25 per cent. Diclazuril was administered in the feed at dose levels of 1, 2 and 4 ppm from the day before the inoculation of coccidia until the end of the test on day 6 after infection. The 1 ppm dose failed to inhibit the development of the parasite completely, as was shown by a reduction of the weight gain of the birds and the output of a small number of oocysts. Diclazuril at 2 or 4 ppm adequately controlled the infection, with weight gains similar to those of the uninfected controls. At all dose levels, mortality, intestinal lesions and diarrhoea were prevented.

Clinical hexamitiasis was recorded in pheasant poults between six and 12 weeks old, after placing the birds into release pens, and was characterised by reduced appetite, lethargy and emaciation. Post mortem the carcases were dehydrated. The presence in the lumen of the gut of characteristic motile organisms which could often be found several hours after death, provided a good clinical diagnosis. An emaciation syndrome, clinically similar but not associated with hexamitiasis or other pathogens also occurs in poults. It is characterised by extreme emaciation, largely confined to the pectoral muscles, and dehydration although the birds continue to eat and drink; the cause is unknown. Both hexamitiasis and the emaciation syndrome can cause high morbidity and mortality.

Fenbendazole was used to treat nematode infestations (Ascaridia species and Capillaria species) in 230 birds of six orders and 38 different species. Using a single dose of 100 mg/kg bodyweight initial treatment eliminated parasitic nematodes from 221 birds. A further course of treatment at a dose rate of 30 mg/kg daily for seven days eliminated the infestation from the remaining nine birds.