Biliverdin production in chickens infected with the malarial parasite plasmodium gallinaceum

Abstract

Chickens infected with the malarial parasite Plasmodium gallinceum produced green droppings: the predominant pigment was biliverdin. Droppings of identical appearance were produced by chicks injected with phenylhydrazine, a haemolytic agent: it is concluded that the catabolism of haemoglobin resulting at least in part from malarial haemolysis produces excess bile pigments which appear in the droppings. Other chicken diseases in which green droppings are a characteristic objective symptom are fowl typhoid, Newcastle disease (Doyle's form), spirochaetosis and fowl cholera. The correlation of this symptom with haemolytic or other secondary anaemia is discussed and its value in field outbreaks of avian malaria as an indicator of the need for immediate therapy is emphasised. © 1985, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.