Pet birds & human colds.

[kittyhazelton]

OK, so nasty cold virus has been floating around lately.
Been runny nose, coughing, even excessive eye mucous (the white goopy kind that causes blurry vision)
Only issue is, I'm the only one in my household who handles the birds. My boyfriend isn't much of a "bird person" and doesn't do much as far as their maintenance goes. I've been trying to keep handling & contact to a minimum, but as you can imagine my macaw does not appreciate this and keeps following me around as if to say "Hey mom, why won't you pay attention to me!?"
I've heard that birds can contact human colds, is this true? If so, what other precautions should I take to avoid my birds getting sick? Any help would be appreciated.

[marie83]

The general rule I follow is if I'm sneezing loads I keep contact to a minimum. If I'm not I will get them out as normal but try to encourage them to do their own thing by providing foraging toys on the playstand and other activities rather than hang round me. I will avoid breathing near them etc.
At the end of the day the cold virus lives for hours in the environment anyway, if your birds immune system is weak enough to get sick from it then I think they will anyway unless you keep them completely caged and get someone else to feed and water them which isn't really practical for most people, that isn't to say some caution isn't needed though.
I'm forever coming down with colds and have never had an issue with my birds picking up anything. Unless I'm really really bad I try to keep my birds routine normal, particuarly with Ollie as after a few days of little attention he will start pulling his chest feathers.

Basicly if you follow good basic hygiene such as regular handwashing, using tissues once then throwing it, avoid kissing or breathing on your bird then I think the risk is very low in a healthy bird. If you suspect your bird has a lowered immune system, is already sick or your cold is really bad I would avoid handling at all.

I'm not saying this is right or wrong, just I've never actually heard of one instance where a bird has caught a human cold although it is warned about in books so I'm wondering if it is just a precaution. I also used to handle my other pets with colds and again I never had a problem even though every book I read said not to.

[Graybeard]

Wife got worried about Greybeard coughing... Yep, he was just mimicking me.

[DanielA]

Wife got worried about Greybeard coughing... Yep, he was just mimicking me.

Hahaha