PDD Alert - Western Michigan USA

NOTICE: Confirmed cases of PDD (Proventricular Dilation Disease) have been reported in Western Michigan: Avian Borna Virus and Proventricular Dilation Disease (ABV/PDD).

Confirmed sources state the PDD cases appear to be emulating from a single breeder. The breeder’s operation are stated to be textbook for the introduction / spread of PDD (examples: Overcrowded, poorly ventilated, extensive build-up of fecal matter, high stress environment, little if any Veterinarian over-site, etc.…). Although, the breeder has been told / is aware that birds from her operation are being found to present with PDD, she continues to sell young parrots.

Since a formal complaint / action by West Michigan Health Officials has yet to be issued, the name of the breeder cannot be provided as part of this notice. What can be stated is that the breeder is female, young - mid-twenties, and has a history of selling birds (parrots) below market.

PDD is ‘High-Contagious.’ Transmission: Contact with fecal, oral, nasal fluids, including surfaces in which they contact, Vertical Transmission (from parent) - through the egg. Periods of vulnerability: Very young birds, Adult birds in breeding mode, Birds taking medications to suppress hormone surges (examples: Lupron, Deslorelin implants).

ABV (Avian Borna Virus) cannot invade human cells. Species affected by ABV/PDD: Psittacines, captive and wild-caught, and non-psittacine bird species. ABV/PDD is a fatal, inflammatory wasting disease. ABV/PDD infects the Central Nervous System, Peripheral and Autonomic nerves.

Know of whom you are purchasing your parrot from and of whom they are getting their parrots from. Fully Vet Check your parrot with in the first thirty days of arrival in your home. New arrivals should always be isolated from existing parrots for at least thirty days. Any signs of illness shown by the new arrival must be quickly followed by a visit to an Avian Qualified Veterinarian.

Absolutely frightening! Hope she does the *right* thing and stops selling birds until the is situation can be dealt with.

Judging from the description she can't afford/care to fix it. Of course she'll probably lose her whole flock. Just hope know one else loses any birds because of her. Why good breeders don't take in new birds. That is something introduced in to her flock and now spreading. Take quarantining seriously. Probably "proven pairs" for sale cheap.

Sadly... PDD and the strains of Avian Bornavirus which cause PDD are COMMON. Not just in certain locations from time to time, but it's all over unfortunately. Many of us on this forum have had it.

Quarantine is not fool proof either. I know several of us here have had beautiful looking/acting birds break out with it up to 2 years later, and ones who the vets suspected of having the disease from the nest.

henpecked said:

Judging from the description she can't afford/care to fix it. Of course she'll probably lose her whole flock. Just hope know one else loses any birds because of her. Why good breeders don't take in new birds. That is something introduced in to her flock and now spreading. Take quarantining seriously. Probably "proven pairs" for sale cheap.

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Beware of "cheap" breeders... those usually end up being the most expensive of all!

We can only hope that she will stop selling any of her parrots and/or eggs.

Its still short of 30 days since the first of her customers’ parrots presented with PDD, but based on the historical track of this disease, many all of her breeders, chicks and eggs are fully infected or are carriers. Base on the historical timeline of PDD and the likely lack of Vet care she would have a couple of very sick parrots by this time. With hope, that would be a wake-up call.

The last time Western Michigan had a flare-up was eight plus years ago. That event roared though three breed operations, eight large residential flocks (non-breeder with six or more parrots) and nearly twenty single or multiple (no more than five parrot) homes. The end result was the loss of nearly 300 parrots and an untold number of chicks and eggs.

When something like this happens don't they shut them down from selling and contact people she has sold to ? Sorry I am pretty ignorant on this.
Also do they give the name of the person so people can be warned ?

I don't see a point of warning if the breeder is not named.

Kinda like saying "watch out for that criminal."

What criminal? Where? What's (s)he look like?

ToMang07 said:

I don't see a point of warning if the breeder is not named.

Kinda like saying "watch out for that criminal."

What criminal? Where? What's (s)he look like?

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What I asked was
Also do they give the name of the person so people can be warned ?


Without giving names isn't that what they are doing now ?

So they do not release names ?

ToMang07 said:

I don't see a point of warning if the breeder is not named.

Kinda like saying "watch out for that criminal."

What criminal? Where? What's (s)he look like?

Click to expand...

They have to take official action before they can name her publicly. It's part of due process. (If they're wrong about the source, then you ruin her business, and probably her reputation forever... )

This is a preliminary announcement to make the public aware that there is a back yard breeder, who for the moment shall remain nameless, that has been selling infected parrots.

STRICT QUARANTINE PRECAUTIONS and immediate testing are required for any new birds. Because this can spread like wild fire.

An intelligent person would read this and go... Hhhmmmm... maybe that lady on Craig's list selling cheap parrots might not be such a good idea...

In fact, now might not be a good time to add a new bird to my flock, until we see how this plays out.

And other breeders, who suddenly get offered a great deal on breeders might go... Hhhhmmmm... I'll have to think about that one.

THAT is where it's useful! Knowing it's out there in the weeds... sooner rather than later. so you don't go tromping around barefoot.

Be pro-active.

Having lived through the California Newcastle epidemic, and seeing entire flocks of birds that had to be cullled...

Yeah. Get the word out immediately. Even if all the details can't be released yet.

IMO there are numerous breeding facilities throughout the country that are breeding sick birds. It's a matter of proving it. Additionally, many affected/ill chicks are being sold to pet shops and/or brokers, thus risking further contamination.

Local sources confirm that the Breeder, which was the source of the PDD Alert in Western Michigan USA, has halted sales/gifting of birds. She is providing names of individuals, which she had sold/gifted birds to in the last six month. Officials stated that poor record keeping had slowed their work, however, access to bank records provided by the Breeder is helping since the majority of sales had been with credit cards.

Local officials stated that during their inspection seven birds had been found sick and that those birds had been culled. The remaining flock is under supervised quarantine pending further findings.

Hopefully they caught it early enough to keep damage to a minimum.

Good to know the breeder is taking responsibility.

Still, it needs to be stressed... the fact is that PDD is EVERYWHERE and more common than people think.

This is SO scary. We have some great parrot stores in the area, but they always have live birds and lots of them, so I feel uncomfortable (i.e. don't) take Kiwi there. I can't imagine how devastated the new owners must be getting news like that

RavensGryf is 100% correct in that PDD is everywhere. The average home owner that takes even limited interest in gardening, lawn care, plantings, etc... will come in contact with it.

Kivibird statement regarding visiting even the best of pet shops and also bird fairs should never include your parrot is also 100%.

In addition, its a full shower and clothing change before I make contact with my Amazon when I have come in contact with other peoples parrots. Anything we buy for our Amazon that is not in a sealed container gets washed prior to our Amazon getting it.

May sound over the top until you read or see what a large chicken farm requires.

We lost two Amazons to Herpes Virus 'Pacheco's Viral Disease.' To this day, we do not know how it came into our home and our parrots contacting that disease. After 90 days of detailed clearing and testing and an additional six months of zero positive testing of our home before we began see our bird friends let alone have a parrot in our home. Ravaged once is all it took for us to get crazy about limiting our Amazons exposures.

SailBoat said:

RavensGryf is 100% correct in that PDD is everywhere. The average home owner that takes even limited interest in gardening, lawn care, plantings, etc... will come in contact with it.

Kivibird statement regarding visiting even the best of pet shops and also bird fairs should never include your parrot is also 100%.

In addition, its a full shower and clothing change before I make contact with my Amazon when I have come in contact with other peoples parrots. Anything we buy for our Amazon that is not in a sealed container gets washed prior to our Amazon getting it.

May sound over the top until you read or see what a large chicken farm requires.

Click to expand...

I very rarely shop at those places and order 99% of Kiwi's stuff online. Except for our landlords bird, who I occasionally watch when they're out of town (he is free of disease) I do not come in contact with any other parrots. I do not take him to a vet for unnecessary checkups either, as not to potentially expose my perfectly healthy bird to sick birds. Unless he's injured or sick and there is NO other option, no vet. We *used* to live in an area where there was a parrot store that did not sell parrots, just food and toys I really liked. I do not really feel comfortable going to the ones around here because of all the birds. I will occasionally go to the bigger pet stores, but make a wide berth around the birds (which is easy enough this day as those stores only have parakeets and cocktails and it's easy to avoid them). I guess I do not decontaminate myself after stepping 2 feet out the door, but I do take steps to prevent risks.

I also know what large factory chicken farms do to their animals to prevent disease. It's disgusting, abusive and makes for unhealthy meat for those who eat meat.

Since, we only have rehomed Amazons, which come to us with no medical history, we see the Vet quarterly. Our DYH Amazon is the youngest parrot we have had (16 when he joined us) in a very long time. Their past history that could have included a combination of poor diet and living conditions increases the likelihood of medical problems. Therefor, we target quickly developing a detailed medical history and the only way to do that is visiting the Vet often.

When additional information is available, I will update this Forum.

Scary!!!!!


However, I just saw this posted to the PDD support group:

Press release from Texas A&M on vaccine against ABV causing PDD:
August 12, 2015

Texas A&M Veterinary Researchers Develop an Effective Vaccine Against a LethalDisease of Captive Parrots


COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Researchers at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM) have developed a highly effective vaccine against a lethal virus disease of captive parrots. The disease, called Proventricular Dilatation Disease (PDD), results in blindness, heart failure, or intestinal blockage. It is caused by a virus called Avian Bornavirus. Use of the vaccine against this virus prevented the development of disease in captive birds with no obvious adverse effects.
The investigators—Drs. Ian Tizard, Jianhua Guo, Susan Payne, and Samer Hameed—work at the Schubot Exotic Bird Health Center at the CVM. The research was supported by the Schubot Center and the college. The center is dedicated to conducting research that will improve the health and quality of life of both captive and wild birds. While currently focusing on diseases of parrots, investigators
at the center are also studying diseases of water birds, quail, and cranes.
“Proventricular Dilatation disease is an especially nasty infection that kills large numbers of captive birds each year,” said Dr. Ian Tizard, the project leader. “Parrot owners are naturally very distressed when their beloved pet dies in such a manner. The new vaccine is expected to stop the development of this disease and prevent much suffering.”
The next step in the development of this vaccine will be to seek USDA licensure and then to manufacture the vaccine commercially. This will require extensive field-testing to ensure that thevaccine is safe and that it is effective in many species of pet birds. Thus it will take some time before the vaccine becomes available to parrot owners. Current plans are to market the vaccine through avian veterinarians.
The pace of the additional studies will naturally depend upon the resources available. Current resources are limited, so it is difficult to state when this vaccine will be available to parrot owners.
###
For more information about the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, please visit our website at vetmed.tamu.edu or join us on Facebook.
Contact Information:
Megan Palsa
Executive Director of Communications, Media and Public Relations [email protected]
979-862-4216
979-421-3121 (cell)

There is hope!!

PDD is not required to be reported under current MDARD (Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development) guidelines! Control is left to the individual / breeder/ industry. Halting the sale of PDD or PDD exposed birds by a specific owner / breeder is the responsibility of that owner / breeder. Neither State or County will provide over-sight unless it becomes wide-spread. The issue in Dorr Michigan USA becomes problematic, since an individual or Avian organization would likely face legal ramification if that individual or organization publicly released the name of the specific individual / breeder. I/we can make statements to the occurrence of birds presenting with PDD, which appear to be emanating from the Dorr, Michigan USA area. Beyond that my/our hands are tied.

The breeder has turned the operations over to her parents. The parents are selling birds. Buyers should be wary of birds sold from the Dorr, Michigan USA area.