Diagnosis and Therapeutic Management of Candidiasis in Falcons in Saudi Arabia

From 1998 to 2001, a total of 3760 falcons were presented to the Falcon Medical Research Hospital of the Fahad bin Sultan Falcon Center. From this total, 11 (0.3%) adult (>1-year-old) falcons, including 8 saker falcons (Falco cherrug), 2 peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus), and 1 lanner falcon (Falco biarmicus), were admitted for treatment of candidiasis. Affected falcons showed general clinical signs including reduced to total absence of appetite, shredding and flicking of food, regurgitation, and progressive weight loss. The diagnosis of clinical candidiasis was made from clinical signs, endoscopic examination of the upper digestive tract, histologic observation of typical Candida albicans blastospores on samples obtained from the crop, and positive fungal cultures. Therapy consisted of applying a miconazole gel directly to the thoracic esophagus and crop twice daily for 5 consecutive days. Miconazole proved to be an effective, fast, and inexpensive antifungal agent suitable for the treatment of candidiasis in captive falcons.