Falco 27 - International Wildlife Consultants Ltd.

Amyloidosis – An Emerging Disease in HuntingFalcons in the Middle EastJoerg Kinne & Ulrich WerneryAffiliation:Central Veterinary Research Laboratory, Dubai, United ArabEmirates. jkinne@cvrl.co.aeSummarySince amyloidosis is an increasing problem inhunting falcons in the UAE a retrospective study wasperformed on 266 liver biopsies and samples from 961falcon necropsies carried out at the CVRL over the lastdecade. Amyloidosis was confirmed in 213 (22.2 %)of the 961 necropsied falcons. Thirty six percent ofthese cases were Gyr falcons, 29 % were Gyr hybrids,21 % were Peregrine falcons, 9 % were Saker falconsand 5 % were other or unknown species. Nearly threequarters of all amyloid cases were observed in the last5 years. The liver was the most affected organ withamyloid deposits in 86.4% of the cases. Amyloid wasfound also in kidney (61 %), spleen (42 %), pancreas(7%) and adrenal glands (11.7%). Renal medullaryamyloidosis was observed in 77 cases associated withvisceral gout. Amyloid was confirmed in 32.3 % of theliver biopsies.IntroductionAmyloidosis is an increasing problem not only inhumans (Linke, 1984;1985), but also in zoologicalspecies (Zschiesche and Linke, 1986; 1989; Shaw etal., 1987; Zschiesche and Jakob, 1989; Landmann etal.,1996), and in hunting falcons in the UAE (McKinney,2002; Hampel 2004). Therefore, a retrospective studywas performed on 266 liver biopsies and 961 falconnecropsies carried out at the CVRL over the lastdecade.methods. When amyloidosis was suspected organswere stained with H & E and with Congo red. Liverbiopsies, collected from 266 sick falcons since 2002,were also included in this study.Statistical analyses were performed using commercialsoftware (SPPS). The animals were grouped accordingto species, and the paired T-test was used to comparespecies distribution and amyloid incidence, as well asamyloid-incidence in necropsies and biopsies. The Chisquared-testwas used to compare species distributionand amyloid incidence before and after the year 2000.ResultsOf the total number of falcons included in the study,213 (22.2%) were Gyr falcons, 276 (28.7%) were Gyrhybrids,241 (25.1%) were Peregrines, 155 (16.1%)were Sakers and 76 (7.9%) were of other (Kestrel,Barbary and Lanner falcon) or unknown species (Figure1). Statistical analyses demonstrated that Gyr falconsand Gyr-hybrids were significantly (Chi-squared-test,p