The Mycobacterium avium complex includes Mycobacterium intrecellulare and Mycobacterium avium with four subspecia: M. avium subsp. avium, M. avium subsp. hominissuis, M. avium subsp. silvaticum, and M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis. A case of the disease induced by M. avium of indefinite subspecies was recorded in a six-month-old Scimitar-horned oryx calf kept in Gdańsk zoological gardens. The main symptom was a persistant, drug resistant diarrhoea. The calf was euthanized due to progressive emaciation and an unfavourable prognosis. The autopsy showed partially calcified lymphadenitis mesenterica. Moreover, numerous calcified tubercles were found in the organs of the chest and abdominal cavity. A female oryx, the mother of the the calf, was also euthanasied but no lesions were found during the autopsy. The lymphnodes mesenterica of both animals were sent to be examined at a laboratory. In the calf’s samples Mycobacterium avium was recognised. In the female’s limphonodes acid-resistant bacilli were recognized only by bacterioscopy. Neither biological nor culture examination confirmed this diagnosis. The remaining three animals in the herd were examined by an intradermal test, using bovine and avian tuberculin. The result of the tests was positive for avian tuberculin in one case. In the remaining two cases the result for avian tuberculin was uncertain. The decision to euthanize the animals was taken. Euthanasia was performed a year later, after prior approval from the institution supervising the breeding of the Scimitar-horned oryx, an endangered species. The next calf born in the herd, which had not been examined with the tuberculin skin test, was also euthanized. During the autopsy of all four animals tuberculosis-like lesions were found. Laboratory examinations of the samples excluded the presence of the Mycobacterium bovis. Due to limited possibilities of laboratory examination, the presence of Mycobacterium avium was not confirmed.
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