Mycobacterium genavense, a recently reported cause of a wasting illness in patients with AIDS, was isolated from a cervical lymph node from a dog with severe hind limb weakness and from trachael tissue from a parrot with acute onset respiratory distress. Physicians caring for immunocompromised patients should consider birds and dogs potential sources of M. genavense infection and submit appropriate specimens for culture.

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The biology, physiology, husbandry, and handling of the hedgehog are described. Diseases and conditions of practical significance are reviewed.

A 4-year-old male umbrella cockatoo (Cacatua alba) with a history of ingestion of foreign material from chewing on a household appliance presented for lethargy, inappetance, and regurgitation of 2 days duration. Foreign bodies identified on radiograph included a wire 2 cm in length in the proventriculus, a wire 3 cm in length in the ventriculus, and several pieces of rubber and plastic throughout the gastrointestinal tract. Diagnosis of a perforating ventricular foreign body was made through plain and contrast radiography. The proventricular wire was removed endoscopically but endoscopic retrieval was not successful in locating the ventricular wire. A ventriculotomy was done to remove the wire, which had perforated the ventriculus cranially and imbedded into the parenchyma of the liver. The wire was extracted from the center of a large nonresectable granuloma that incorporated the left liver lobe. The bird recovered from surgery but died from complications 3 months later. Postmortem examination revealed localized coelomitis and hepatic necrosis associated with the perforation.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis was isolated from the eyelid, skin, tongue, and lungs of a green-winged macaw (Ara chloroptera). Two persons living in the same household were culture positive for pulmonary tuberculosis 3 to 4 years before tuberculosis was diagnosed in the bird. Although humans have not been shown to acquire tuberculosis from birds, an infected bird may be a sentinel for human infection.