02271nas a2200229   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002260007000043653002700113653000800140653001200148653001400160653001400174100001400188700001300202700001600215700001500231245006700246490000800313520170600321022001402027       2019                            d  c03/2019bSchlütersche Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KGaHannover10aSuttonella ornithocola10atit10aParidae10apneumonia10amortality1 aS Merbach1 aM Peters1 aJ Kilwinski1 aD Reckling00aSuttonella ornithocola-associated mortality in tits in Germany0 v1323 aIn April 2018 a series of four incidents of mortality in tits (Paridae) occurred in southern  Northrhine Westphalia in northwestern Germany. Per incidence up to twenty dead tits  and a loss of tits around feeder stations respectively were detected. In three coal tits  (Periparus ater), one blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) and one great tit (Parus major) acute  necrotic pneumonia with intralesional rod-shaped bacteria and reddish-black contents  of intestine were detected. In two birds inflammatory infiltrates were detected in the  intestinal mucosa histologically. Bacteriology showed β-hemolytic colonies in lung, liver  and intestine on Columbia sheep blood agar. Routine biochemical testing and MALDI-TOF  lead to no results. 16S rDNA sequence analysis revealed Suttonella (S.) ornithocola. Since  we isolated S. ornithocola from the intestine and detected inflammatory infiltration in the  intestinal mucosa it might also be associated with enteritis. This case report is the first  description of S. ornithocola-associated mortality in tits in Germany. Suttonella ornithocola  is a recently discovered bacterium belonging to the family Cardiobacteriaceae. In 1996  S. ornithocola was reported to cause mortality in tits in Great Britain. In these tits necrotic  pneumonia was detected. The cases described in Great Britain regarding clinical signs,  post mortem and histopathological findings as well as bacteriological examination show  close similarities to those described in this case report. Thus, S. ornithocola may be a cause  of recent tit mortality in North Rhine Westphalia, Germany, and should be included in the  list of potentially fatal pathogens of tits in Continental Europe.  a0005-9366