HELP: Amazon bit by squirrel

[qwerty0802]

Hey all,

I have an amazon and I took him outside for some air and I put him next to our bird feeder. After a couple minutes, I went to go do something else and when I was walking back, I saw a squirrel jump on my amazon. The squirrel I think jumped back on the fence.

I've heard squirrels carry rabies. Should I go to my local vet and have my bird checked? I don't see any bites, but I want to be careful.

What should I do? My amazon is 2 years old.

[kaylayuh]

It's better to be safe than sorry. I would say definitely go to the vet to make sure nothing's wrong.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I think what I'd do is give my vet a call and see what he or she had to say. You might miss a small bite -- how well will your bird allow you to inspect? Even a tiny bite would IMO warrant a vet visit. In the absence of a bite, I'd probably watch closely for signs of disease, but not go to the vet unless the vet suggested doing so. Rabies is quite rare these days but there are plenty of less exotic diseases that could have been transmitted. However, it would take some time for anything to be detectable on a culture or bloodwork, so an office visit right away might not illuminate much except that the vet would be experienced enough in restraint techniques to make a very thorough appraisal and if I couldn't do so myself, I'd probably go for that reason.

[Nevermore]

You definitely should have your bird looked at. But don't worry about Rabies.

The Rabies virus is only transmissible to mammals. So anything other than a mammal (such as a bird) cannot catch it.

Also, animals as small as squirrels are unlikely to carry Rabies. Mainly because the method of transmission is through saliva. AKA: Bites. If something with rabies bites a squirrel. The squirrel is more likely to die of the bite before it comes down with rabies.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Also, animals as small as squirrels are unlikely to carry Rabies.

While the argument that they are less likely to survive long enough to transmit it may be true, if you get bitten by a squirrel, best to assume it is possible it was carrying rabies.

[Nevermore]

True; especially since its so lethal.

Although for me, I live in Canada. We have an awesome Rabies control program to the point where finding a rabid animal is a rare and exciting event. I saw records for the number of rabid animals found over a number of years not too long ago....when I'm home from work I should try to find it. Not sure if it was published though. Out of ALL of the animals. ONE was a squirrel.

I'm also vaccinated against rabies.

But ya....if your pet isn't a mammal. They can't catch or spread Rabies.

[Nevermore]

http://www.publichealthgreybruce.on.ca/ ... d-Lows.htm


Thats not it....but it does help show the occurrence of rabies in Ontario. Amusingly enough, our rabies cases are mostly imported from the US because of their lax rabies control programs.

And our socialized health care is to thank for our rabies program. Government doesn't want to pay for the expensive post-exposure vaccines. So they spend millions on preventing people from needing post-exposure treatment in the first place.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

The question of whether birds can be affected by rabies is a bit more complicated I think, although you won't go far wrong if you think of it as confined to mammals. Plus it is just plain a very rare disease anymore. That said, I have found apparently legitimate references which indicate some birds have been found to have evidence of rabies exposure in their blood and that lab specimens have actually been infected. But if it ever happens outside a lab environment, it is a very, very rare occurrence. OTOH the argument about the animal dying from the original bite rather than surviving to develop rabies also would apply to birds.

That said, there is no reason to worry about rabies infection from the squirrel contact, but other infectious agents would almost certainly be present.

[Nevermore]

Sorry, I'll have to disagree with you there. Rabies is a favorite of mine...as a Biologist and Fish and Wildlife grad we were required to study it in depth, as well as other wildlife diseases.

Its entirely possible that other animals besides mammals could have rabies antibodies in their blood. But it does not infect them to create the symptoms we refer to as rabies. We can have organisms from any animal disease in our bodies. But the question of whether they can CAUSE illness is the key here. The Rabies virus can only cause rabies in mammals.

If it did cause rabies in birds, we would see significantly more instances where birds of prey (including vultures, mind you) attack humans because they've eaten something with rabies, and caught it. Or had their rabid prey bite back.

Also rabies is not rare. It is 'not common' in some areas. But it is far from rare. As it says on that link I posted.

The only reason rabies is not burning its way through Ontario is because of the control program. Without it, we'd be inundated. The government does not spend millions of dollars a year to control a disease that is rare. In North American it is relatively controlled. But in Africa Rabies is a serious issue. We literally air drop packages of bait containing oral vaccines all through the southern reaches of Ontario to vaccinate raccoons, foxes, skunks, etc...as they wander, or migrate up from the states. We also have a catch-and-release program to catch mammals, take samples to test later on to see if they ate the bait, then vaccinate them again.

Also, a key point, is the fact that our control program only targets the Raccoon and Fox strain of rabies. We have yet to find a way to vaccinate bats against Rabies. If you show up at a hospital here with a tiny cut on your hand and claim to have been bitten by a bat, you will immediately be offered the post-exposure treatment for rabies.

[Nevermore]

This is not a published journal, but it does simplify things for anyone on this forum...

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5638442_mamma ... bies_.html

Also a more respected source; the BC centre of disease control; http://www.bccdc.ca/dis-cond/a-z/_r/Rab ... Rabies.htm