Bird tuberculosis is a chronic disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium avium which usually leads to emaciation. It mainly affects birds, but there are also occasional cases in mammals. In birds, the bird usually only loses weight, only to eventually die of emaciation (thin, weak, starvation)
Tuberculosis and Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC Complex) can cause lung disease.
Often, both have similar symptoms, they are not the same.
M. tuberculosis causes Tuberculosis. MAC may sometimes cause lung diseases, such as a chronic infection of the lungs, but it doesn’t cause Tuberculosis.
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