Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease outbreak in Aus birds

[Chantilly]

Hello eveyone...
I am back once more...


"Typically in the Northern Rivers the most common species affected by Beak and Feather disease are
Rainbow and Scaly-breasted Lorikeets. In most cases they are young birds, which still have dark beaks, but are missing tail feathers and the longer flight feathers on their wings. Without those important flight feathers, the birds are unable to fly and are commonly referred to as ‘runners’. Often these birds are brought into care as seemingly ‘tame’ lorikeets or as babies that haven’t yet learnt to fly."



So last Friday a wild yellow scaly lorikeet was brought into the Sanctuary where I work and
it had no tail feathers or primaries and couldnt fly, it was a young adult (still had a pinky purple beak) and its poos were ewe (i have no good descripion for it, but they were not like Shrekies) anyway-- litterally two days before I had bought an AustralianBirdKeeper magazine back issue, and an avian bet who does articles for the magazine had written about Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease Virus... One topic he covered was symptoms in different species, including lorikeets and lories, and this birds sympoms matched what he had written they would be exactly.

Basically what he had written was 'It is not uncommon for the species of lorikeet to get this disease, however they have great immune systems so often, they recover and it wont kill them.'
and then to quote a website will link below "Interestingly, some birds have shown they can survive the initial infection and regrow their feathers again."

So I went home and spent the next two hours reasearching it online, and apparently lorikeets all over QLD are dropping from the sky with the disease-- it dosent kill them, but they are then carriers for the rest of there lives and will affect any bird who comes in contact with them or there feces, feathers ect. And as you guys know it i can be much more harmful to other parrot species rather than an out of season molt. " Unfortunately, whilst the infected bird recovers it becomes a carrier of the disease and goes on to chronically shed the virus and infect other birds throughout the population."



I am really uncomfortable and sad with the desicion I made, I just dont know if it was the right one... I tecnically death scentenced this lorikeet. with my Mum and Dad agreeing that the owners had to know, I told them about the disease that the little yellow scaly had as well as printing out som fact sheets, and to prevent any spread of disease with their lorikeets and thousand other different parrots that live at the Sanctuary, they got it euthanized. I was offered to take it home first, and I was so close to saying yes, but I just couldnt risk Tilly and Shrek like that. I hope I made the right decision.

And to anyone in Australia-- if you find a lorikeet or lory displaying these symptoms and have birds yourself, please please please know what you are risking if you take the bird into you home.


heres the link i quoted-- http://www.wildlifecarers.com/disease-s ... lorikeets/

[Wolf]

This is always a difficult decision to make, so I do not envy that you had to take any part in the making of it, but for the welfare of the birds that you do take in and in the interests of reducing the rate of infection with this disease in the wild populations, you did the right thing, I think.

[liz]

Welcome back Chantilly.

[BerthaCrawford]

Psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD) is a viral disease affecting all Old World and New World parrots. The causative virus - Beak and feather disease virus (BFDV) - belongs to the taxonomic genus Circovirus, family Circoviridae. It attacks the feather follicles and the beak and claw matrices of the bird, causing progressive feather, claw and beak malformation and necrosis. In later stages of the disease, feather shaft constriction occurs, hampering development until eventually all feather growth stops. It occurs in an acutely fatal form and a chronic form.

[Pajarita]

Well, it wasn't really YOUR decision to put it down, all you did was let them know of the danger, they were the ones that made the decision. Personally, I would have tried to save it - but that's me.

I remember reading once that there are two different strains of PBFD, one that attacks large birds like cockatoos and another one that attacks smaller birds like cockatiels, with the cockatoos not getting better and the cockatiels surviving it with good care - maybe the lories get the same strain as the cockatiels.

[ParrotsForLife]

I agree with Pajarita they could have found him a home.Have you heard of the famous lovebird Rhea? Shes been in the papers recently and has over 120,000 followers on Instagram and people from all over the world have been sending her clothes to keep her warm.

[Wolf]

Regardless of who actually makes the choice to euthanizes the bird or to try and save it, it is not the easiest choice to make. I do not know how many actual strains of this virus there are, but I do know that there is an acute form of it that is usually fatal and also a chronic form of it that a bird can recover from but it will then always be a vector for the disease. And this is where things get a bit dicey as to what to do.

If there are adequate quarantine facilities to keep the bird separated from non infected birds and/ or the bird can be provided a home separated from other birds then it may be worth trying to save the bird. But if the bird can't be kept safely away from other birds that would be at risk of contracting this disease them it may be better to put it down.

Once again it is not an easy choice to have to make and I do not envy anyone that has to make such a choice. Al we can do is the best we can given the circumstances and hope that we made the right choices.

[ParrotsForLife]

Regardless of who actually makes the choice to euthanizes the bird or to try and save it, it is not the easiest choice to make. I do not know how many actual strains of this virus there are, but I do know that there is an acute form of it that is usually fatal and also a chronic form of it that a bird can recover from but it will then always be a vector for the disease. And this is where things get a bit dicey as to what to do.

If there are adequate quarantine facilities to keep the bird separated from non infected birds and/ or the bird can be provided a home separated from other birds then it may be worth trying to save the bird. But if the bird can't be kept safely away from other birds that would be at risk of contracting this disease them it may be better to put it down.

Once again it is not an easy choice to have to make and I do not envy anyone that has to make such a choice. Al we can do is the best we can given the circumstances and hope that we made the right choices.

I dont think it would be very hard to find a new home.

[Chantilly]

Thankyou guys for the info. I think it would of been fairly hard to find a home, but I am not sure... I hope I made the right choice by the birds at the sanctury... I have mixed feelings about it though.

[Wolf]

As far as you sharing the information that you did with the sanctuary owners goes, you did exactly the right thing. What to do from there was their choice and not yours to make.

Each situation is unique and must be looked at as such. In a place that these birds are native species and are often looked upon as agricultural pests finding good homes for them is likely to be much more difficult than in areas in which these birds are not naturally found. This is something that those of us who live in a different area of the world sometimes overlook or don't realize.

It is good that you have mixed feeling about this, it shows that you have a heart and that you care about them.